Date:23/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/23/stories/2008122354290400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

MRPS bandh ‘peaceful’

Special Correspondent

Stray incidents of violence reported from parts of State

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Vandal act: A portion of the entrance to Gandhi Bhavan was damaged when MRPS activists tried to storm into the premises as part of their strike in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Barring stray incidents of violence, the State bandh on Monday sponsored by Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) demanding introduction of a Bill in Parliament for categorisation of Scheduled Castes was by and large peaceful.

Scores of MRPS activists were arrested by police at several places as they restricted movement of traffic or went round forcibly closing shops. The organisation’s State president Manda Krishna was among those arrested while leading a demonstration at Vidyanagar here. Mr. Krishna got himself admitted in a private nursing home after he was released from Gandhinagar police station where he was detained for a few hours.

Poor response

The bandh call evoked poor response in the State capital where shops and establishments functioned normally. However, the MRPS cadre damaged a gate of Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Congress, pelted stones at an RTC bus at Ramnagar and set fire to another bus at Jamai Osmania in the city.

According to reports from districts, a road blockade by the MRPS on Hyderabad – Nagpur national highway in Adilabad town was countered by the rival Mala Mahanadu which organised a separate dharna near the Collectorate. Mild tension prevailed in Eluru as the protestors forced closure of shops by wielding sticks. Schools were closed down and the services of RTC were seriously affected in the town.

The bandh was near total in the urban pockets of Anantapur district where educational institutions, Government and private offices, banks and other commercial establishments remained closed till the evening. The MRPS cadre broke the windshield of a lorry transporting corn in Tadipatri town of the district. The incident led to lorry owners staging a protest and later clashing with MRPS activists. The two groups confronted again later at the local police station.