Hyderabad: A pro-Telangana youth set himself on fire inside Osmania University as a thanksgiving to God for fulfilling his wish that state Congress president D. Srinivas lose in the by-elections.

The incident happened in the morning just as Telangana supporters were celebrating the landslide victory of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party in the elections for the 12 assembly seats.

Police said the victim poured kerosene on himself near the library building and set himself ablaze.

In his suicide note, Ishan Reddy said that he had prayed to Goddess Maisamma that he will sacrifice himself if Srinivas was defeated in the by-elections. He also thanked the people of the Telangana region for ensuring the victory of 12 pro-Telangana candidates. He also indicated in his note that his body not be subjected to autopsy.

His note also listed political leaders, including Srinivas, whom he described as "Traitors of Telangana". They include ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Sridhar Babu, senior Congress leaders Jana Reddy, Damodar Reddy, senior Telugu Desam party leaders N. Janardhan Reddy, E. Dayakar Rao Kadiam Srihari, minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.

"They all should be declared as traitors of Telangana," he said in his note.

At the same time he saluted the leadership of K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the cause of Telangana state.

Reddy, who was undergoing coaching for Test of English as a Foreign Language Graduate Record Examination (TOEFL-GRE) examination, was from Basantpur village in Medak district.

Police said that he had already completed his studies at St Ann's Institute of Technology in Ebrahimpatanam.

News of Reddy's suicide sent shock waves throughout the region and the student community came out to pay their respects to him.

Funeral

After his body's release from Gandhi Hospital, his funeral procession was taken out from Osmania University. It was attended by TRS President K. Chandrasekhara Rao, MLA T. Harish Rao, Telangana Joint Action Committee convenor Kodanda Ram, popular folk singer Ghaddar, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bandaru Dattatreya and Ch Vidyasagar Rao and a large number of students. In Kakatiya University at Warangal, students took out a massive rally. Ghaddar appealed to the youth of Telangana not to resort to any extreme steps.