Hyderabad, January 20: After a brief lull, tension returned on the Osmania University campus last afternoon with the students staging protests and pelting stones at the police. They were demanding postponement of post- graduate semester examinations scheduled from tomorrow.
They hurled stones on police personnel on the campus and also indulged in stone-pelting on the OU police station this evening. Policemen lobbed teargas shells to disperse them. Two students reportedly suffered injuries in the clashes. Unconfirmed reports said rubber bullets were also fired by the police.
The students also wanted to take out a rally to Martyr’s memorial at Gun Park commemorating the first death anniversary of MCA student, Venugopal Reddy, who took his life for Telangana on the OU campus last year. Around 5.30 p.m, more than 500 students gathered at the VC building and raised slogans demanding postponement of examinations till a separate Telangana Bill is introduced in the Parliament.
They later took out a rally towards NCC gate to proceed towards the Martyr’s memorial at Gun Park to pay homage to Venugopal Reddy.
Police and security forces stopped the students from going out of the campus and angered over this, the students rained stones on the police. A pitched battle ensued between the security forces and the students.
Police have to lob several rounds of tear gas shells to quell the students. Two students, Srinivas and Nagesh, both M Com students suffered injuries after hit by tear gas shells. From the NCC gate, the students went back to Arts College and held a candle light demonstration as a mark of respect to Venugopal Reddy.
After paying respects, the students once again gathered near the B-hostel and targeted the OU police station. They pelted stones and police retaliated by lobbing tear gas shells.
Meanwhile, the OUJAC appealed to the students not to disrupt the examinations but boycott them as a mark of protest.
“We want the examinations to be postponed till a separate Telangana Bill is introduced in the Parliament,’’ OUJAC spokesperson P Kailash said.
–Agencies