A court directed the police on Monday to file a case of cheating against Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and P Chidambaram for going back on their commitment to statehood for Telangana.

The Rangareddy district court issued the directions after a petition was moved by pro-Telangana lawyers. The petition argued that both Shinde and Chidambaram have misled the people of the region by taking a u-turn on the matter.

The petition alleged that as home minister, Chidambaram had announced on December 9, 2009, that the process for the creation of Telangana had been set in motion, but later went back on his words.

On December 28, 2012, following an all-party meeting in Delhi, home minister Shinde had said the decision on Telangana would be announced within a month, it added.

Protests by pro-Telangana groups, meanwhile, continued in Hyderabad. In Warangal, activists damaged the statue of former PM Indira Gandhi. Elsewhere, they targeted the statue of former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy, who was opposed to Telangana.