Security up in Hyderabad ahead of Telangana report

HYDERABAD - Central paramilitary forces began arriving in Andhra Pradesh to tackle possible protests as the Srikrishna committee prepares to submit its report to the central government by Dec 31 on the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Of the 50 companies sought by the state government, nearly half arrived Friday. The remaining were expected by Monday, police officials said.

Most of the forces are drawn from Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). They would mostly be deployed in Hyderabad, which witnessed violence, protests and shutdowns during late last year and early this year.

A police officer said 25 companies would be deployed at vulnerable places in the state capital and its outskirts. “We don’t want to take any chances and want to have adequate number of forces,” he said.

The companies, each comprising 120 personnel, will be mostly deployed at the state secretariat, Hitec City that houses many IT firms, areas with high concentration of people who migrated from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and Osmania University, the nerve centre of last year’s agitation.

Police officials here briefed the central forces about possible trouble spots and vital installations.

Of the remaining nine districts of Telangana, two companies each were deployed in seven districts.

Two companies will be deployed in Visakhapatnam rural, one each in Anantapur, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam city, Vijyawada and Guntur.

In addition, reserve forces of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police would be deployed in different parts of the state.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and other groups fighting for a separate state have threatened to launch massive protests if the central government failed to carve out a Telangana after the panel’s report.

After a 11-day hunger strike by TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao and massive protests in Telangana region, the central government last year announced that the process for formation of a separate Telangana state will be initiated.

However, counter protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and mass resignations of legislators forced the central government to do a rethink. It appointed a five-member panel to study the demands of both sides.