Police book 22 students from HCU for taking out Republic Day rally

Hyderabad: Cyberabad police has booked cases against 22 students from the University of Hyderabad (HCU) for “unlawful assembly”.

On January 26, around 300 students had marched from the North Shopcom to the main gate of the campus, taking out a march to ‘Save Constitution’. However, Cyberabad police had stopped the students from taking the rally outside the university, saying no permission had been given for the same. The march, which had been called by the Hyderabad Central University Students’ Union, was planned till the Ambedkar statue at Masjidbanda on Sunday. The students from HCU had planned to garland the Ambedkar statue, as was the ritual since the past few years.

Speaking to NewsMeter, Abhishek Nandan, president of HCU Students’ Union said, “It is the fundamental right of students to protest peacefully. Telangana Police has deprived us of that too, by slapping arbitrary FIRs against us. Especially in the context where the Constitution of India is under threat, this act by the police is an attempt to instil fear among students. But we refuse to back down because of these false charges and police intimidation.” Abhishek Nandan is also among the 22 students against whom the FIR was booked. Some students were also detained for some time in the police van.

According to Cyberabad police, the students had obstructed traffic at HCU thereby causing “nuisance and inconvenience between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.” on January 26. Cases have been booked against HCU students under multiple Sections, including 341 (wrongful restraint), 143, 149 (unlawful assembly), 504 (breach of peace), and 290 (public nuisance) of the IPC.

Earlier, on January 26, Hyderabad police had detained a group of HCU students for nearly eight hours. The students had approached Narayanguda police station seeking the whereabouts of Bhim Army chief, Chandrasekhar Azad. Azad had been detained by Hyderabad police on Republic Day, and sent back to Delhi on the morning of January 27.