The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Police act with restraint, counsel agitating students

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Sunday, Dec 06, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Police act with restraint, counsel agitating students

Staff Reporter

No incidence of violence reported in Warangal district

Police present in large numbers wielded neither batons, nor weapons
Students stop vehicles with ‘AP’ nameplate to paint ‘TG’ on them

— PHOTO: M.MURALI

Watchful eye: The police keep a vigil at the Zilla Parishad as agitating students try to gain entry in Warangal on Saturday.

WARANGAL: The district police has shown unprecedented restraint in effectively managing the ongoing Telangana agitation.

Ever since the agitation began at Kakatiya University campus, the police in Warangal desisted from entering the premises for fear of further fuelling the anger among students.

The police were mobilised in large numbers but surprisingly they were wielding neither batons nor weapons anywhere in the town. They were in fact treating the students on strike with empathy, very often counselling and guiding them to maintain cool. Surprisingly, no incident of violence was reported in the district that necessitated attention.

On Saturday, when the students went on stopping the vehicles on the thoroughfare at Kakatiya University campus to paint letters ‘TG’ meaning Telangana in place of ‘AP’ (Andhra Pradesh registration), the police remained calm and only appealed to them to stop the activity.

They indeed, educated the students that defaced number plates of the vehicles would become easy access to anti-socials and criminals for carrying out illegal activities and impede the investigation process in case of trouble. However, the students did not pay any heed to this counsel and went ahead marking even police vehicles.

The district police authorities only tried to prohibit the students from resorting to any violence by their sheer presence in large numbers.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior police officer said as long as the students continued their agitation peacefully, they would not touch them. “We are here to ensure law and order,” he said.

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