Hyderabad: A march to the Telangana Assembly in Hyderabad by left-wing parties, organisations and student organisations on Wednesday, called by the Telangana Democratic Front, to protest against the recent encounter in Warangal district was foiled by police, who upped the security around the Assembly building and blocked roads to the area.

While the leaders and the participants of the Chalo Assembly (March to Assembly) were taken in to custody to halt their progression towards the assembly, one protester, Rajkumar, tried to immolate himself to protest the arrests of the leaders.

The incident occurred while the Telangana State Assembly was in session. The young man sneaked into Gun Park, opposite the assembly building, and poured kerosene on his body. However, policemen stopped him from starting a fire. He was arrested and taken to Bahadurpura police station.

The march, which started from the state Communist Party of India (CPI) office, had the support of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), several pro-Telangana mass organisations and 18 student organisations. They had called the picket to protest a September 16 incident in which the police had killed two Maoists: Vidyasagar Reddy, alias Sagar, and Shruti, a M. Tech student.

The police had said that the Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire, but left-wing political groups and Telangana organisations alleged that it was a case of fake encounter. The police had killed them after taking them in to custody, they said.

The protest also had the support of several prominent personalities including Prof Kodandaram of Telangana Joint Action Committee, renowned educationist Chukka Ramaiah and poet Varavara Rao.

Ramaih was kept under house arrest in Hyderabad to stop him from taking part in the march. Similarly, hundreds of leaders and activists were taken in to preventive custody in different districts of Telangana to stop them from reaching Hyderabad.

In a move reminiscent of the days of the Telangana movement, tension prevailed in Osmania University campus as students clashed with the police after they were prevented from Marching towards the state assembly. Tension was also high at the Nizam College campus near the state assembly.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti government has come under fire from its own supporters including many pro-Telangana organisations over the trigger happy ways of the state police. This was, however, the first incident of its kind since the formation of Telangana state.

The Tealangana Democratic Front that called for the protest comprises of 370 different organisations. Hundreds of workers and supporters of these organisations were detained at different places.

Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy said that permission was denied to the Chalo Assembly programme as there were fears that Maoists may participate in it and create law-and-order problems.