A 19-year-old student, who set himself on fire at Osmania University in support of a separate Telangana state, succumbed to injuries on Sunday. He had suffered 80 per cent burns, the police said.
S. Yadaiah, a student of the city’s Noble College, had set himself afire on Saturday. Fearing a backlash from the student community, the police sent the body to his native village Nagaram where he was cremated.
Violent agitations spread to other parts of the state. In Nalgonda, a group of pro-Telangana activists pelted stones at the vehicle of CPI-M MLA J. Ranga Reddy but he escaped unhurt. The police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the mob. The CPI-M has opposed statehood for Telangana.
Reacting to the Andhra government's claim that "Maoist elements" had entered Osmania University, the nerve centre of the ongoing agitation, to take advantage of the situation, Vice-Chancellor Tirupati Rao on Sunday said there were no Maoists on the campus.