214 Telugu students reach Hyderabad by special flight from Manipur

Hyderabad: Over 200 students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who were stranded in violence-hit Manipur, reached Hyderabad by a special aircraft on Monday.

The special aircraft carrying a total 214 Telugu students landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 1.22 p.m.

While 106 students are from Telangana, the remaining 108 belong to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Telangana’s minister for labour Malla Reddy along with officials welcomed the students at the airport. Authorities arranged food and also transport for the students to enable them to reach their respective destinations.

Students heaved a sigh of relief on returning safely. They said they were worried about their safety due to violence around their institutions.

“The situation is worse. We were living in fear as houses around our college were being blasted,” a student said.

Another student said the college authorities were helpless and the local staff had left them to their fate.

Students thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for bringing them safely.

Another student, Spurthy said a total of 26 girl students from NIT Manipur have reached Hyderabad. She said MLC K. Kavitha spoke to them over phone and assured them all help.

Minister Malla Reddy said 180 students from Telangana were stranded in Manipur. The remaining students have reached Kolkata and will be landing in Hyderabad by Monday night.

On the direction of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police contacted officials in Manipur. The state government arranged a special aircraft to bring the students back and paid for their travel expenses

Another special aircraft will be landing in Hyderabad by Monday. Students will also be reaching here by different flights from Raipur, Patna and Bhubaneswar.

MLA Prakash Goud, protocol department secretary Arvind Singh, Rangareddy district collector Harish, CID chief Mahesh Bhagwath and other officials received the students.