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A city court in Hyderabad issued summons to popular Telugu actor Allu Arjun in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case on Friday, June 19.
Allu Arjun has been directed to personally appear before the Nampally court on June 22.
The actor is accused number 11 (A11) in the case relating to the stampede at the Sandhya Theatre on December 4, 2024, during a premiere show of Allu Arjun’s film, Pushpa 2: The Rule.
A 35-year-old woman named Revathi was killed, and her son Sri Teja, who was eight years old, suffered critical injuries in the stampede.
The Nampally Criminal Court has so far issued summons to 19 accused in the case. The police have named a total of 23 accused in the case.
Individuals working in the management of Sandhya Theatre are named as the first 10 accused in the case. Eight bouncers working for Allu Arjun are also listed as accused.
The trial in the case will begin after the accused personally appear before the judge.
On December 4, 2024, Allu Arjun attended a special screening of Pushpa 2: The Rule at Sandhya Theatre. The victim, Revathi, had attended the premiere with her husband and their children. On the actor’s arrival, the crowd thronged towards him, leading to a stampede in the theatre. The woman died in the stampede while her son suffered serious injuries.
The police booked the theatre management, Allu Arjun and his team for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Allu Arjun was arrested on December 13, 2024, in the case. He was produced before the Nampally court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.
His lawyers approached the High Court, which granted him interim bail the same day. He was released from jail the next day.
Later, the Nampally Court granted him regular bail.
As part of the investigation into the stampede, the police interrogated Allu Arjun on December 24. He was questioned for three hours at Chikkadpally Police Station based on a 10-minute video prepared by the police by compiling CCTV footage of the incident.
Police had filed a chargesheet against 23 accused in December last year.