The Centre has dispatched about 50 companies, or about 4,500 personnel, from various central forces, including the Central Industrial Security Force and Border Security Force, to Hyderabad for deployment in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.
The Centre has dispatched about 50 companies, or about 4,500 personnel, from various central forces, including the Central Industrial Security Force and Border Security Force, to Hyderabad for deployment in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.
The Srikrishna Committee is due to submit its report on whether or not a separate Telangana state should be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Fearing an outbreak of violence after the report is submitted, the state government has sought at least 125 companies of central forces. Intelligence reports have warned that Telangana separatists are preparing to cause trouble.
K Chandrashekhara Rao, chief of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which is leading the agitation for a separate Telangana, said his party would not immediately react to the committee report.
“We would like to give at least 10-15 days to the Centre for going through the report and delivering its views. But, if the committee report is against the ambition of four crore people of Telangana, we will intensify the movement,” he warned.
Last year, street fights took place after pro-Telangana groups held demonstrations. In response, the Centre set up a committee headed by former Mumbai high court justice BN Srikrishna, to decide on the formation of the state, carved from 10 districts in northwestern Andhra Pradesh.
Political observers point out that what makes the situation in AP even more volatile this time is the recent split in the Congress, caused after YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of the late chief minister YSR Reddy, quit the party in protest at not being made chief minister.
The Hyderabad police have also issued strict orders for New Year celebrations in the wake of the committee submitting its report on December 31 at about 5 pm. The city police have asked all pubs and other recreational facilities to shut down by 1 am on January 1, 2011.
“There will be a build-up starting December 31 and it is expected to intensify through the day,” an official source said, “There are intelligence inputs for some serious trouble this time in Telangana.”
Last year, on December 9, the Centre had announced its willingness to carve out Telangana state. However, opponents of Telangana in the Andhra Pradesh assembly and in parliament tendered their resignations, forcing the Centre to step back and set up the Srikrishna Committee.
The AP government has already started keeping tabs on potential trouble-makers, particularly student leaders. The Hyderabad police have already taken dozens of Osmania University students into custody. Several have been languishing in police lock-ups for the last one month.
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