Telangana issue: Centre dispatches paramilitary forces to Andhra Pradesh

The Centre has dispatched a contingent of paramilitary forces to Andhra Pradesh to face any situation that may arise after the Srikrishna Committee submits its report on the Telangana issue.

The first batch of additional central forces will reach Andhra Pradesh tomorrow for deployment in sensitive places, including Hyderabad, while more forces will reach the state before December 31 when the report will be submitted to Union home minister P Chidambaram.

Sources said the Centre does not want to take any chances because of the sensitive nature of the statehood demand.

The five-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna, has completed its visit to Andhra Pradesh and consultation with all stakeholders.

The sources said the committee is now giving finishing touches to the report and will submit it next week.

The Srikrishna Committee was constituted on February 3 following unrest in Andhra Pradesh over the demand for a separate Telangana state and counter-protests.

The mandate of the committee includes wide-ranging consultations with all sections of the people and all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana issue.

Apart from Justice Srikrishna, other members of the committee are Ranbir Singh, vice-chancellor of the National Law University, Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi, and Ravinder Kaur, an IIT-Delhi Professor.

Former home secretary V K Duggal is member-secretary of the panel.