CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Maratha community members on Monday morning blocked the Nanded-Hyderabad highway by placing blazing tyres on the road and staging a sit-in for hours in support of their demand for reservation under the OBC category.The agitation disrupted traffic on the highway connecting the two states - Maharashtra and Telangana. Vehicles remained stranded in long queues on both sides of the four-lane highway for several kilometres. The jam started all the way from the Kuntur area under Biloli division of Nanded district. Police said with several villagers staging agitation on the highway, security arrangements were enhanced to ensure that no untoward incident occurred and no private or public properties were damaged.Superintendent of police Shrikrishna Kokate told TOI, "The protest on Monday was sporadic and no leader from the community or political party headed it. The agitation started around 7am and went on till the afternoon. We are in the process of registering a case under relevant sections of IPC against those who blocked the highway for several hours." The officer said the Nanded police made all efforts to ensure that the agitation did not affect the lives of citizens.In Hingoli, some people late Sunday torched a Nanded-bound MSRTC bus from Amravati. The incident occurred when the bus had to take an unscheduled halt at Chinchala Pati on Kanergaon-Hingoli road, as its tyre deflated.The passengers were shifted to another bus. However, some unidentified people later reached the spot and torched the parked MSRTC bus. The Goregaon police have registered an FIR against them.

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