In what could put pressure on the Hyderabad police, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) — as a part of the ongoing TSRTC employees’ strike — has called for a huge protest at the Tank bund on Saturday, which is also the day India awaits the Ayodhya verdict.
The RTC protest seeks to recreate the ‘million march’ of the Telangana movement, where a large number of people had gathered to protest on Tank Bund. The Hyderabad police have denied permission for the proposed march, but the JAC leaders have announced that they will go ahead with the protest anyway.
Tank Bund would be closed for traffic from 8 am to 5 pm on Saturday. Police have said that a protest march in the heart of the city could create law and order problems. Police have also started making preventive arrests of employees' leaders in various parts of the state.
The indefinite strike by over 48,000 employees entered the 35th day on Friday. They continued protests in Hyderabad and 32 other districts to press for their demands.
Meanwhile, security has also been beefed up ahead of the Ayodhya verdict as Hyderabad has seen communal riots in the past between Hindus and Muslims. There was also mild violence in the city when the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992.
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