Police arrest 500 TRS activists following dharna

Hyderabad, May 25:Police today arrested several Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders and pro-Telangana activists at various Telangana districts in the state when they were observing protests in front of Districts Collectorate offices as part of call given by TRS demanding immediate carving of separate Telangana state by the Centre.Police also made preventive arrests at Medak district before laying siege of Collectorate Office by TRS leaders. TRS leaders led by party MLA T Harish Rao staged a rasta roko on the National Highway road near Patancheruvu and later he was arrested by Patancheruvu police.Earlier talking to reporters, Mr Rao alleged that the Medak Superintendent of police has issued preventive custody of TRS leaders despite their requesting permission to protest in front of Collectorates in various districts. A large number of pro-Tenangana activists also observed dharna in front of Collectorate office in the city located at Lakdikapul, where heavy police force was already deployed to prevent the agitators.At Nizamabad district, as many as 100 activists and TRS leader Pocharam Srinvias Reddy were arrested by police when they tried to siege the collectorate office and the police also used water canons to disperse the agitators.According to reports reaching here, overall 500 TRS activists including leaders were arrested at various Telangana districts including Mahaboobnagar, Warangal and Karimnagar when they were observing dharna.Condemning the police arrests of legislators and leaders, who were observing dharnas in a democratic manner at various districts in Telangana region, TRS President .K.Chandrasekhara Rao demanded immediate release of their leaders.
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