A local court in Hyderabad has summoned Telugu actor Allu Arjun to appear Monday in connection with the December 2024 .
The IX Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at the Nampally Court Complex issued summons to Arjun and 19 others as the trial is set to begin next week.
, filed by Chikkadpally Police on December 27 last year, names Arjun as accused number 11. The stampede occurred on December 4, 2024, outside Sandhya Theatre during the premiere screening of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, starring Arjun.
The stampede killed a woman and left her son seriously injured. An FIR was registered against Arjun, the Sandhya Theatre management and his personal security team under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and voluntarily causing hurt. The chargesheet names 23 accused.
Arjun was arrested on December 13, 2024, and granted interim bail by the Telangana High Court the same day, though he spent the night in Chanchalguda Prison. He was granted regular bail on January 3, 2025, by the IX Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate.
According to the chargesheet, the theatre management was primarily responsible for the fatal stampede as it failed to take adequate measures to prevent overcrowding. Police alleged that the management allowed more people into the theatre despite overcrowding, failed to inform them about Arjun’s visit and did not seek security arrangements.
On December 9, 2024, police arrested M Sandeep, a partner of Sandhya Theatre; M Nagaraju, its manager; and G Vijay Chander, in charge of the lower balcony where the stampede occurred. The complaint was filed by Mogudampalli Bhaskar, husband of the deceased, M Revathi. Their nine-year-old son was left in a coma after the incident.
