The Hyderabad Police on Thursday filed a case against actor Allu Arjun and others in connection with the death of a woman due to asphyxiation during a stampede-like situation at a Sandhya Theatre in the city during the premiere show of the actor’s latest film “Pushpa 2: The Rule”. The incident occurred at Sandhya Theatre during the Premier Show of Pushpa – 2 movie at about 9.40 pm on Wednesday. The office of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Hyderabad released a statement, giving the details about the case.
“Last night i.e. 4/12/2024 at Sandhya 70mm theatre in Chikkadapally RTC X road at 9.40 pm Pushpa 2 premiere show was scheduled and a huge crowd had gathered there to watch the movie as well as in anticipation of getting a glimpse of the movie’s lead actors coming to the theatre. However, there was no intimation from the side of theatre management or the actors’ team that they would be visiting the theatre. The theatre management did not make any additional provisions regarding security to manage the crowd. Nor there was any separate entry or exit for the actors’ team though the theatre management had information about their arrival,” the statement read.
“Around 9.30 pm, actor Allu Arjun came to Sandhya theatre with his personal security and all the people gathered there tried to enter the theatre with him. His personal security team started pushing the public which further aggravated the situation as there was already a huge gathering at the theatre. Taking advantage of this situation along with the actor and his security team large number of people entered the lower balcony area,” it added.
One Revathi, w/o Bhaskar aged 35-year-old from Dilshuknagar, and Her son Sreethej aged around 13 years felt suffocated due to a large public influx and immediately the police personnel who were on duty pulled them out of the public from the lower balcony and performed CPR to her son and immediately shifted to the nearby Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital, the police said, adding the doctor of Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital informed that she was dead and her son Sri Tej was advised to be shifted to another hospital for better treatment.
On the above incident, a case has been booked Under Section 105,118(1) r/w 3(5) BNS act in Chikkadpally Police Station based on the complaint of the family members of the deceased person and is being investigated, it added. Stringent action as per law will be taken against all the persons responsible for the chaotic situation inside the theatre leading to the death of a person and injury to others, police asserted.
The woman’s husband told a news channel that doctors have said the condition of his son would be known only after 48 hours. Mythri Movie Makers, the banner behind “Pushpa 2: The Rule”, expressed anguish over the tragic incident.
“We are extremely heartbroken by the tragic incident during last night’s screening. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the young child undergoing medical treatment. We are committed to standing by them and extending all possible support during this difficult time,” the studio posted.
