Hyderabad: The situation in Hyderabad took an ugly turn on Saturday as the protest march called by the striking employees of the state Road Transport Corporation (RTC) turned violent after police barricaded the route and the venue of the march and detained hundreds of workers of different opposition parties.

The protest and mass hunger strike on Tank Bund was called by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of RTC employees and supported by all the opposition parties including Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left.

Police took into custody or kept under house arrest a large number of leaders of RTC JAC as well as various political parties since last evening to foil the protest.

The police had turned the Tank Bund abutting Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city into a fortress since last evening and barricaded it at both the ends to stop anybody from entering the stretch.

However, determined protesters both from the RTC as well as the political parties made a determined bid to reach the venue by bringing down the barricades at different places. They tried to rush in from different directions including Basheerbagh, Indira Park and the state secretariat forcing the police to use the force to stop them. After clash at Basheerbagh in which the protestors pelted stones on the policemen, police force used tear gas shells to disperse them. RTC driver Ravinder Goud was among the injured in the clash.

The large number of protestors trying to gather at the Tank Bund despite the prohibitory orders including the RTC employees, their family members, students, workers of various mass organisations and the political parties.

Tension prevailed in the area since morning as authorities had deployed the police personnel and Rapid Action Force in large numbers. Even women scaled the barricades and sand bags to run towards the Tank Bund and staged a sit in protest. Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers, led by state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram, came from RTC X Roads, but the police stopped them and arrested them at Indira Park leading to clashes.

Saturday’s protest march, called “Sakula Janula Deeksha”, marked a new high for the stir as the RTC employees’ strike continued on the 36th day. RTC unions have called strike to press their 26-point charter of demands, including the merger of the corporation into the state government and improving the working conditions of the employees.

However, the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has refused to accept any of their demands and responded with harsh measures including the mass dismissal of all the 48,000-odd employees for resorting to “illegal strike”.

Telangana High Court was scheduled to hear the petitions related to the strike and RTC affairs on Monday and passed an order.