Braving massive presence of police and paramilitary forces and violating ban orders, thousands of people, demanding separate statehood to Telangana, reached Tank Bund in thie Andhra Pradesh capital for the 'million march'.
Raising slogans of 'Jai Telangana' and holding flags of various parties, the activists reached Tank Bund from different directions, though the police had sealed all the surrounding routes for vehicles.
The protestors broke the police barricade and removed the barbed wires at Ambedkar statue and were heading towards the road along Hussain Sagar Lake. The policemen deployed there were outnumbered by the protestors.
"The future of coming generations is more important for me than my examination," said a student who reached Tank Bund immediately after writing Class 11 exams.
The protestors included students, political workers, employees and others from Hyderabad and various districts of Telangana.
Tension prevailed in the surrounding areas as police arrested legislators and leaders Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The legislators were arrested at Basheerbagh as they were heading towards Tank Bund in different groups.
Police also arrested 200 students of Veterinary College when they were proceeding towards Tank Bund.
Earlier in the day, in an attempt to foil the million march demanding statehood for Telangana, the authorities cancelled 47 trains coming here from various parts of the region in Andhra Pradesh.
South Central Railway (SCR) cancelled four express trains and 43 passenger trains, connecting various districts of Telangana with Hyderabad.
The authorities also suspended Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) train services on three out of four routes in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and the outskirts.
The sudden cancellation of trains caused severe inconvenience to passengers. Even trains coming from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions but passing through Telangana have been cancelled.
The cancelled trains include those coming from Warangal, Kazipet, Mahabubnagar, Kamareddy, Miryalguda and Kurnool. This is the second time this month that trains have been cancelled in the Telangana region. The railways had to cancel all trains in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana due to the daylong rail blockade by TJAC on March 1.
Students appearing for intermediate examinations had a tough time reaching the examination centres in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad due to traffic restrictions. Authorities gave the students an extra half-an-hour to enable them to reach the centres.
The traffic curbs also led to huge traffic jams in busy areas like Koti, Narayanguna, Kachiguda, Nampally, Lakdi Ka Pul, Khairtabad and Secunderabad.
All schools and colleges in the state capital and neighbouring Ranga Reddy districts were shut as a precautionary measure. Shops and business establishments were also closed in most areas.
State-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) suspended some services in the city and outskirts and diverted others. MMTS (local) trains were also suspended on majority of routes as a precautionary measure.
Police continued to arrest hundreds of people in entire Telangana comprising 10 districts, including Hyderabad, to foil the march. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader and former minister N. Narasimha Reddy was arrested near his house in Hyderabad.