Police aware of violence at Secunderabad railway station: Bandi

HYDERABAD: The BJP has alleged that the violence that rocked the Secunderabad station on Friday was the deliberate handiwork of anti-social elements, who, the party said it believed, were allowed a free run by the police. It said the police would have been aware of the plans that were being made by the protestors who were using social media platforms to mobilise a crowd.

TS BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said anti-social elements infiltrated the group of youth waiting to appear for a written exam for Army recruitment and those who were planning a peaceful protest and perpetrated the violence.

"The Telangana government failed miserably in tracking and preventing the violence. What was the state intelligence up to while thousands of youth were gathering at the railway station? Goons carrying metal rods and petrol in bottles entered the station and the police failed to stop them. How was such an attack possible? This makes it amply clear who was behind the incident," Sanjay said, and demanded that those responsible must be identified.

He appealed for calm and urged the youth not to get carried away by others egging them on to indulge in violence.

Senior leader and MLA Etala Rajendar said those seeking to enter the defence forces were seeking to serve the country. "We demand a full investigation into the incident and if the state government cannot do it, then the CBI must investigate. The city has lakhs of CCTV cameras, and railway and bus stations are monitored. How did the police miss what was happening? The state government is guilty of allowing the violence to occur, and we believe the entire episode is a result of a political conspiracy," he said.