The Hyderabad police on Friday arrested some Telangana activists who protested against the mounting of the statues of 12 Andhra leaders that were demolished during
the Telangana agitation on Tank Bund on 10th March 2011.
Those arrested included Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, who lead the demonstration.
Among the statues being mounted is one of Sir Arthur Cotton, an irrigation engineer with the colonial government. Questioning even this, Kavitha had demanded, "What has this British engineer done for Telangana?"
To mollify Telangana agitators, the government had already abided by their wish to include a statue of Komram Bheem, a tribal leader from Telangana, among the ones being installed. This, however, evidently was not enough, and the police is giving security to the statues in case more protests flare up.
The statues being mounted are made of bronze, and the Department Of Culture has paid a sculptor of Bheemavaram Rs 47.58 lakh for making them.
The government aims to mount all the statues within 10 days.