The Hyderabad Police on Tuesday forcibly removed protesting students from the guesthouse of University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor Podile Appa Rao. The students had earlier vandalised the office and guesthouse of Rao, opposing his return to the university following a two-month break after Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s suicide. Earlier, university officials had asked for increased security at the campus, after hundreds of students protested and broke into Rao’s office and damaged equipment and furniture. Rao's press conference this morning was cancelled after the incident.

Rao was forced to go on leave after he was accused of discriminating against Vemula. The PhD scholar committed suicide on January 17, after he and four other students were suspended for allegedly abusing an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad member. Union ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani have also been criticised for their alleged roles in the events that led to his suicide.