The highway links Hyderabad to Vijayawada.
The vehicular movement en-route and at various places in the district virtually came to a standstill for the second consecutive day as protesters pelted stones on a few private vehicles after forcibly stopping them from plying.
Intensifying the demonstrations, party workers of TRS, BJP and scores of activists representing different pro-Telangana groups raised slogans and squatted on roads and even prepared lunch, besides staging cultural programmes.
The Telangana-JAC had called for a 24-hour blocking of the highway in Nalgonda district as part of the ongoing general strike demanding separate statehood, which entered the 23rd day today.
Hundreds of vehicles were seen stranded on the national highway due to blockades since 8 am till late afternoon, though police diverted traffic through a by-pass and the state highway, a senior police officer said.
As many as 129 pro-Telangana agitators were taken into preventive custody as they blocked traffic at Nakrekal and Suryapet mandal in Nalgonda district, however, police ensured that traffic moved through the diverted routes in other parts, DIG (Hyderabad Range) Y Nagi Reddy told PTI.
"Two police constables also suffered injuries during the stone pelting incident," he added.
Traffic came to a grinding halt for six hours at Suryapet town, while the protesters blocked roads for almost five hours in Nakrekal.
"Traffic has now been restored after getting the highway cleared of protesters," Reddy said.
Referring to the yesterday's incident wherein pro-Telangana activists damaged windowpanes of around 20 private buses among other vehicles coming from Andhra region near Nakrekal and other places of Nalgonda, Reddy said police had booked 18 cases under relevant sections of IPC against 400 persons.
He said 10 of the accused had already been arrested in this connection and they were today remanded to judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the pro-Telangana protesters asserted that they resorted to blockades today to highlight the plight of farmers in the region saying they are on "the verge of losing their Kharif crop this year as the power distribution companies (Discoms) are imposing unscheduled cuts in power supply".
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, however, held pro-Telangana leaders responsible for the power crisis as the coal miners in the region have joined the ongoing general strike.
Meanwhile, Additional Director General (Law and Order) S A Huda said pro-Telangana activists obstructed traffic on NH-9, Sagar road and Addanki road and several other places in Nalgonda district responding to the call given by Telangana JAC for blocking the highway.
Apart from taking into custody as many as 129 protesters in connection with blocking of the highway, police had identified 400 agitators, who along with their leaders indulged in pelting stones on private buses at Nakrekal and other places of Nalgonda district yesterday, Huda said.
"Special teams have been formed and instruction have been sent from police head quarters to nab the culprits on whom cases were booked," he said, adding there were no major incidents reported today and normal traffic was restored from 3 pm onwards.
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