Hyderabad, July 06: The All-India Bandh call given by all Opposition parties, including the BJP-led NDA and the Left parties, on Monday in protest against the fuel price hike, saw a mixed response in the State.
Educational institutions remained closed and government offices reported thin attendance, but commercial establishments resumed business in the afternoon.
Except for minor violence, including some stoning of RTC buses and commercial establishments at a few places, the bandh was by and large peaceful. Activists of various political parties came onto the roads early in the morning and disrupted the vehicular traffic on arterial roads in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and other district headquarters.
Commuters were put to great trouble. With buses coming under attack, the APSRTC curtailed services in the Hyderabad region. Six buses were attacked — in the Kukatpally and Hyderguda areas in Hyderabad, and six others across the State.
The curtailment of operations saw the corporation incurring huge losses. At places where the bus services were not suspended, leaders of Opposition parties staged rasta rokos in front of the RTC bus depots across the State. However, services resumed by evening at many places.
Rail rokos were staged at Visakhapatnam, Warangal and a few other places but the trains ran normally, with only a few delays being reported.
Demonstrators protested at many stations between Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. In Srikakulam district, activists stopped the Visakha Express at Amadalavalasa railway station.
In Hyderabad, autorickshaws came to the rescue of stranded commuters — but at a price, charging twice the normal fare.
Several leaders like Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, CPI state secretary K Narayana and CPM State secretary BV Raghavulu were arrested while participating in dharnas at Ameerpet and RTC crossroads respectively.
While the police had BJP State president G Kishan Reddy under house arrest as a preventive measure, senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu was arrested during the dharna conducted at Khairatabad. TDP senior leader K Yerran Naidu marked his protest by pulling a rickshaw in Srikakulam.
In Vizianagaram district, the ZP general body meeting was conducted under police vigil.
Activists attacked a liquor shop at Maddilapalem in Visakhapatnam and a bar & restaurant in Guntur for defying the bandh and destroyed several bottles of liquor.
–Agencies