Hyderabad crisis eases

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 6

Hyderabad crisis eases

NZPA-Reuter Hyderabad I] A round-the-clock curfew j imposed on Hyderabad after!, bloody rioting on Monday is! to be lifted after an understanding reached between the state Government and| Opposition parties. Dr M. Chenna Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh state, told journallists that all those detained j as a preventive measure, during the disturbances! would be released and the I Government would review l the cases of those arrested for specific offences. j Government offices,!

schools, and colleges will I function normally, he said. Opposition leaders had ! called a general strike on ■ Monday in protest against the alleged rape of a young Muslim woman and the I beating to death of her husband while in police dyin the violence which followed on Monday 12 people were shot dead by the ; police. In addition to the ! fatalities more than 80 were I injured in the rioting, including 50 policemen, and more than 800 people were arrested. I The Opposition called for

a judicial inquiry and the unconditional release of all those detained. The agreement with Opposition leaders came after day-long talks in Hyderabad. Afterwards they appealed to the public to call off any further protest action and to keep the peace. The Opposition had rejected Dr Reddy’s claim that Naxalite extremists were responsible for the riots. Instead they blamed Dr Reddy’s supporters in the! former Congress Party led; by the former Prime-Minis-ter, Indira Gandhi, that won state elections a month ago.