The University of Hyderabad has turned into a battlefield during the Ugadi festival. Hundreds of police deployed in the 400-acre land within the university limits on Sunday lathi-charged students and arrested nearly 200 people, creating a stir across the state.
TGIIC and Revenue officials, who were not quiet and said that since it was a festival day, no students would come out and no one would stop them, entered the 400-acre land within the university limits with JCBs under police guard. They started uprooting dense bushes and trees.
When some students noticed it, the police surrounded them. They tried to arrest those they found and load them into vans. Those who resisted were beaten with lathi-charges as they pleased. The police got angry with the students who did not reach there, shouting slogans against damaging the environment and harming biodiversity.
They were dragged on the ground by their legs and arms and put into vans. Those who tried to resist the arrests were chased through the university and beaten with batons. More than 200 students were taken to Rayadurgam, Madhapur, Gachibowli and Kollur police stations.
When they asked them where they were being taken to, they were indiscriminately beaten with helmets and protection shields. Some students complained that some police officers had abused them. The girls who questioned the police’s anarchy were dragged by the women policemen by their hair and put into vans.
Dozens of students were injured in the process. They ignored their clothes and dragged the students away. They were dragged away, abused and told that they did not speak Telugu because they were from other states. Despite bleeding from their injuries, they were taken to the police station in a van without paying attention.
The youths who tried to resist were grabbed by the legs and hands and thrown into the van. Some students who were standing on the side were dragged without any reason and put in the van. Protesting the police brutality, fellow students sat in front of the university’s main gate. They were detained and shouted slogans against the government.
University Students Union President Umesh Ambedikar strongly condemned the police ruthless attack on HCU students and said it is a testament to Revanth Reddy’s authoritarian rule. “The government committed atrocities against us with the intention that no one would be there on a festival day. They dragged us like thieves and rowdies. They broke into the hostels and dragged us like prisoners and arrested us”, he alleged.