Telangana’s Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy will visit the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies (RGUKT) in Nirmal district where students continued their protest for the seventh day on Monday to press for their demands.

Braving rains, students of RGUKT, popularly known as IIIT Basara, continued the sit-in at the main gate of the building.

They are protesting over poor quality of food and demanding improvement of other basic amenities and also appointing a regular Vice Chancellor.

They were holding placards and raising slogans to highlight their 12 demands.

The talks held by District Collector Musharraf Ali Farooqi and RGUKT Director Satish Kumar with the students continued till 3 a.m. but failed to resolve the deadlock.

The students are insisting that a statement be issued from the Chief Minister’s office or Education Minister Indra Reddy or Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao give a written assurance to solve their problems.

Though the Collector and Director assured the students that their problems would be solved, the students demanded that this assurance should come either from the CMO or the ministers.

Since no assurance came from the CMO or the ministers, the students decided to continue the protest. Police have made tight security to prevent any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, Sabitha Indra Reddy is leaving for IIIT Basara to hold direct talks with the agitating students to resolve the issue.

Earlier, the minister had reportedly termed the demands of the students as “silly” evoking strong protest from them.

The students have complained that the food being served in the hostel mess is of poor quality. They alleged that on several occasions, small insects and frogs were found in the food.

Students of the Telangana University in Nizamabad also staged a protest to express solidarity with IIIT Basara students. They slammed the state government for neglecting the state-run universities while opening the doors for private universities.

State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay also hit out at the state government for doing nothing to address the demands of the students even after six days. In an open letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Sanjay said the Chief Minister had time to form a political party but no time to discuss and solve the problems of students.

Andhra Pradesh Police on Saturday detained a person who runs a private defence academy in the Telugu states on the suspicion that he was the conspirator in Friday’s violence at Secunderabad railway station.

Avula Subba Rao was detained in Prakasam district. He is likely to be handed over to the Railway Police for questioning.

Rao, an ex-serviceman, runs Sai Defence Academy branches in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Railway Police, with the help of the police in both the states, are probing the alleged role of some private defence academies, which train armed forces job aspirants.

The directors of some private academies are suspected to have provoked the youth and mobilised them by creating WhatsApp groups.

They created WhatsApp groups like Hakimpet Army Soldiers, Secunderabad Railway Station Blocks, and 17/6 to circulate messages to the youth to reach the railway station for the protest.

Subba Rao is suspected to have played a key role in inciting youth. Similarly, the organiser of an academy in Karimnagar is also suspected to have mobilised the youth.

Railway and police authorities were caught unawares as more than 1,000 youth on Friday morning barged into Secunderabad railway station and went on rampage, burning train coaches, damaging parcel goods, and ransacking stalls.

Railway Police had opened fire to quell the violence, resulting in the death of one army aspirant and injuries to some others.

Police have arrested more than 50 suspects for the violence. They were brought to Gandhi Hospital amid tight security for medical check-up and are likely to be produced before a magistrate later.

Secunderabad Railway Police booked cases against those who indulged in violence. The accused were booked for attempt to murder, unlawful assembly and rioting.

Hyderabad police late Friday announced that they will probe the conspiracy angle in the violence that rocked Secunderabad railway station on Friday during the protest against the Central government’s army recruitment scheme Agnipath.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand has directed Additional Commissioner, Crimes & SIT, and Deputy Commissioner Task Force to closely monitor the criminal cases registered by Railway Police Force, Secunderabad.

The top officials have been asked to find out the “objective, conspiracy and detailed planning which was done to create such violent incidents and damage the railway properties”.

Meanwhile, there was high drama at Gandhi Hospital on Saturday evening when Telangana Congress chief and MP A. Revanth Reddy sneaked into the hospital despite tight security to meet the youth who were injured in the police firing at Secunderabad station.

As police had stepped up security at the main entrance to stop Revanth Reddy, he entered the premises from the rear entrance and called on the youth and enquired about their condition.

In another development, the State Human Rights Commission has taken suo moto note of Friday’s violence and sought a detailed report from the police.

The protest by hundreds of youth against the Centre’s new Army recruitment policy Agnipath continued at Secunderabad railway station on Friday.

Insisting that the government announce scrapping of the new policy, the protesters remained squatted on the railway track for more than six hours.

Top officials of railway and law and order police were holding talks with the youth to convince them to call off the protest. They offered to take a delegation to Army recruitment authorities for talks but the protesting youth were insisting that Army recruitment officials come to the station for the talks.

“We will not leave this place till our demands are met. We are ready to sit for three days and even a week,” said one of the protesters.

South Central Railway (SCR) officials said they have suspended all train services on the route as a precautionary measure.

One of the biggest railway stations in the country, Secunderabad was rocked by violence as the youth went on rampage, setting fire to trains or damaging them and vandalising the station.

A person was killed and four others were injured when police opened fire to control the protesters, who were pelting stones and targeting railway property. They also dumped various goods being transported by a train on the railway track and set them afire.

Two-wheelers, eggs, fish, documents and other items being transported were torched or damaged by the protesters.

According to eye-witnesses, more than 1,000 youth began the protest around 9 a.m. with a sit-in near the railway station. They were raising slogans against the Central government and demanding scrapping of Agnipath. Soon they started attacking buses of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

The protesters then entered the railway station and began damaging the property. Railway police personnel deployed at the station were outnumbered by the protesters. Soon the violence spread to various platforms and the passengers ran out for safety.

Personnel of Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police, Hyderabad city police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) rushed to the station to bring the situation under control.

As the protesters continued to indulge in violence and pelted stones, the police retaliated with firing of rubber bullets and teargas shells.

Additional forces were rushed to the area which resembled a battle zone. SCR authorities cancelled all the trains. With the TSRTC buses also being targeted outside the station, the corporation suspended bus services in the area.

Raising slogans against the central government, the agitators also torched bogies of four trains on the station, stalls, display boards and other railway property.

Four bogies of East Coast Express, Ajanta Express and Rajkot Express were partially burnt.

The protesters, who were raising slogans of “Jai jawan Jai kisan” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, demanded that the government scrap the recently announced scheme and continue the existing system of recruitment.

The youth were angry that the government cancelled the recruitment examination for which they had been preparing for the last 3-4 years. They said their protest would continue till the Centre scraps the new scheme.

Following the large-scale violence, an alert was sounded at all railway stations in Telangana. Security was tightened at Nampally, Kacheguda and other railway stations in Hyderabad.

Forces were also rushed to Kazipet and Jangaon railway stations as a precautionary measure.