Second immolation death in Telangana

Exactly 48 hours after Bhojya Naik, an MBA student, killed himself demanding statehood to Telangana, yet another Telangana supporter, Rajamouli, set himself ablaze for the same reason. On Monday afternoon, as the Telangana region was still mourning the death of Naik, Rajamouli, an auto driver belonging to Kashibugga area of Warangal, resorted to self immolation.

According to sources, he was seen shouting ‘Jai Telangana’ slogans while the flames engulfed him. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
While condoling the death of Rajamouli, pro-Telangana groups, including the TRS and the Telangana faction of the Congress, have called for Telangana shutdown on Tuesday. Various other parties, including the CPI, have expressed their solidarity to the shutdown call.

Meanwhile, Warangal, which still has the memories of Naik’s death, was on fire again. In addition to attacking the residences of several Congress MLAs and ministers, the protestors destroyed the statues of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

In fact, the Warangal police had triggered a controversy of sorts by claiming that the preliminary enquiry had shown that Rajamouli had committed suicide due to financial problems. The police had also tried to show a suicide note, which was dismissed by the Telangana protesters as being forged. After a prolonged argument, the police had to withdraw their statement and assert that the suicide was linked to the statehood demand.

Meanwhile, passersby in Wanaparthy in Mahabubnagar district foiled the suicide attempt by BR Goud, a student, demanding statehood to the region.