The Hyderabad police have filed a chargesheet against 23 people, including actor Allu Arjun, more than a year after a stampede at the premiere show of Pushpa The Rule: Part 2 (Telugu) at Sandhya cinema left a woman dead and her son seriously injured. The chargesheet was submitted on December 24 in the incident which happened on December 4, 2024 when fans surged into the cinema complex to catch a glimpse of the actor.
The crowd swelled after the arrival of Allu Arjun and the other cast members. Chaos followed inside the cinema premises because of poor crowd control, resulting in a stampede which killed Revathi, 35. Her eight-year-old son, Sri Tej, suffered grievous injuries and was in hospital for several months.
According to the police, the investigations found lapses in planning, crowd management, security arrangements, and co-ordination among the cinema management, event organisers, private security people and others involved in the programme.
The management of Sandhya cinema was named as the prime accused. Allu Arjun and two of his managers were named as abettors. Allu Arjun had been arrested on December 13 last year but was released on bail later.
Charges were framed under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 118(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 3(5) (common intention). The police said that 14 of the accused were arrested while nine, who secured anticipatory bail, were served notices.