Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) Chairman M Kodandaram was detained along with his followers for a second continuous day in the state, as he tried to attend a town hall meeting in Nizamabad on Saturday.

Kodandaram was arrested at the Toopran toll plaza and shifted to Koudipally police station. He was dropped at his Hyderabad residence later in the day.

“This is gross misuse of police force who failed to give a legal answer to our detention. They simply said they were acting on the orders from above. We have already informed the police officials that there would be no public meeting or rally. Despite that, why did the police lock the town hall and arrest us?“ Kodandaram told the Times of India later.

"Are we terrorists? Why are so many policemen following us? Don’t we have the right to express what we feel? Are we really in democracy? They have to arrest the TRS activists who attacked us on Friday. Instead, police are trying to register false cases against us," Kodandaram told media persons.

This comes a day after Kodandaram and his followers were taken into custody by the Telangana police near Basvapur in Kamareddy district, as they tried to launch a yatra. 

Kodandaram and his supporters were all set for a two-day 'Amarula Spoorthi Yatra' (martyrs inspiration yatra), across Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts.

The rally sought to "highlight the failures and mistakes” being committed by the ruling TRS government in the state.

However, TRS activists blocked the TJAC leader's route and raised slogans of 'Kodandaram go back', at the main entrance to Kamareddy district on Friday.

Stating that permission for the event was denied, the police detained Kodandaram and sent him back to Hyderabad. A case under section 151 CrPC (Preventive custody) was booked.