Central varsity students detained for protesting

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed on Sunday at University of Hyderabad (UoH), as several students were detained by Cyberabad police on Sunday after they staged a protest on the East campus against the clearing of the land, part of the 400 acres of Kancha Gachibowli, which is proposed for auction by the Telangana government to develop multi-infrastructure and IT parks. This incident came in front after few bulldozers were allegedly brought to clear the forest area and upon learning about the incident, students gathered in large numbers and raised slogans against the police personnel who barricaded the entire East campus. A few students climbed onto the bulldozers and tried to stop the heavy machinery in protest. Meanwhile, the police personnel detained several students.

One of the detained female students said that they went to the east campus to find out why bulldozers were present. “We simply questioned the official there. In fact, I was leaving when the police forcibly detained me,” she said.

Few students’ protestors pointed out, “Even though Telangana government claims the ownership of the land but the land belongs to the university, no survey has been done to demarcate the land. Suddenly without any notice they brought bulldozers and started illegally clearing the land. A few students took a stand, but in the process, the police manhandled them and forcibly shoved them into vans and trucks before taking them to undisclosed locations. Around 100 protesters have been detained.