Telangana activists on Tuesday brought train services in Telangana to a halt as they blocked rail tracks all over the region. As a result, five long-distance trains were stopped at various stations for 12 hours by the authorities and six express trains were detained by agitators.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee and pro-Telangana organisations organised the “rail roko” (Palle Palle Pattala Paiki) programme on Tuesday from dawn to dusk. The protest went off peacefully.
Around 148 incidents of stoppages and disruptions were reported from Medak, Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Ranga Reddy, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Naglonda, Hyderabad and Cyberabad.
In Hyderabad trains were stopped at 11 places and in Cyberabad, eight trains were stopped.
The South Central Railway had already cancelled the MMTS services in the city.
Ten Telugu Desma MLAs headed by Mr Nagam Janardhan Reddy, stopped trains at the Secunderabad Railway station and squatted on the tracks for around 30 minutes. They were booked under the Railways Act.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha, blocked train traffic at Bibinagar in Nalgonda district while MLA K.T. Rama Rao took part in the agitation at Moula Ali railway station in the city and the JAC convenor, Mr Kodandaram, took part in the “rail roko” at Ghatkesar.
The Charminar Express was stopped between the Nashkal and Ghanpur Railway Stations in Warangal district and the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express was stopped at Jammikunta Railway Station of Karimnagar district.
There were some other minor incidents as 10 Telangana activists came on bullock carts and removed four clips from the tracks between Bizgirsharrif and Kolanur Railway Stations.
Unknown persons also removed four clips near Raghavapur Railway station of Karimnagar district. But these were immediately restored by the railway gang-men.
Some miscreants also placed boulders on the railway tracks near the Pudur Railway station, a case has been registered at the RPF post at Mahbubnagar.
Agitators removed about 150 clips on the down line between Nekkonda and Eluguru Railway stations in Warangal district but these too were restored immediately.
In view of the “rail roko”, five trains were stopped at various stations and 17 trains were cancelled by the railway authorities and six express trains were detained by the agitators at various locations. A total of five cases were registered by the RPF against agitators in Mahbubnagar, Khammam and in Hyderabad.