HYDERABAD, 9 December 2003 — The twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad and the adjoining Rangareddy district observed a strike yesterday on a call given by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to protest against police failure to prevent Saturday’s communal disturbances in the old city.
Even as indefinite curfew continued under the limits of eight police stations in the old city, the strike call evoked near-total response in other areas of the twin cities and adjoining 10 municipalities in Rangareddy district. Normal life was affected with the state-owned Road Transport Corporation withdrawing bus services in the state capital and neighboring district.
Shops, business establishments, hotels, petrol bunks, cinema theaters and educational institutions remained closed while attendance was thin in banks and state government offices. Auto-rickshaws plied in some areas. People, especially those who arrived at railway and bus stations from outside, faced inconvenience for lack of transport.
City Commissioner of Police R.P. Singh told newsmen that no untoward incident had been reported from any part of the twin cities till noon. Several BJP leaders and scores of activists were arrested when they tried to force closure of shops in various parts of the city.
