HYDERABAD: Hyderabad city police issued a notice to actor Allu Arjun on Monday, directing him to appear at the Chikkadpally police station on Tuesday.
Arjun is named Accused-11 (A-11) in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case, which resulted in the death of 32-year-old M. Revathi and left her 8-year-old son critically injured during the premiere of his film, Pushpa 2: The Rise. An official from the Chikkadpally police station confirmed to TNIE that Arjun has been asked to appear at 11 am for further questioning regarding the December 4 incident.
On December 13, 2024, actor Allu Arjun was arrested in connection with the case. Following his arrest, the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks. However, due to procedural delays, he spent the night in Chanchalguda Jail before being released the next morning. The tragedy has spiralled into a major controversy, with the actor’s supporters claiming that the woman’s death was purely an accident, while the authorities claim that it was irresponsibility on the part of Arjun and his team that led to the stampede.
On Saturday, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy gave a blow-by-blow account of the incident in the Legislative Assembly, after which the actor held a press conference denying the allegations.
On Sunday, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police CV Anand debunked the actor's claims regarding the incident, releasing a video with a timeline of the tragedy. According to the police, the crowd at the theatre was manageable before Allu Arjun's arrival. However, between 9:28 pm and 9:34 pm, the actor arrived at the RTC X Roads Metro Station, waving to his fans through the sunroof of his car. This caused people from nearby theatres to flock to Sandhya Theatre.
The video showed Allu Arjun waving to people from the sunroof of his car as he passed Musheerabad Metro Station, where thousands of people gathered on the roads. He entered the theatre's main gate at 9:35 p.m. with a private security team of 40-50 personnel. The overwhelming crowd caused the theatre's gate to collapse, triggering the stampede.
On Sunday, six people claiming to be from Osmania University JAC were arrested on charges of vandalising Allu Arjun's house in Jubilee Hills. However, they were reportedly granted bail on Monday by a Hyderabad court after furnishing a Rs 50,000 bond.
