3 held for stampede at Hyderabad theatre during ‘Pushpa 2’ premier

Hyderabad, Dec 8:  Hyderabad Police have arrested three persons in connection with the case registered over a stampede at a theatre during the premier show of 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' on December 4.

A woman died, and her son was critically injured during the stampede at Sandhya Theatre during the premier show attended by actor Allu Arjun.

Chikkadpally Police, which had registered a case against theatre management, Allu Arjun and his team, arrested the theatre owner, general manager and security manager.

The arrested men were produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody.

Hyderabad Police on December 5 booked actor Allu Arjun, his security team and the management of Sandhya 70mm Theatre on a complaint by the deceased woman's husband.

Chikkadpally Police Station registered the case under sections 105 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 118(1) (Voluntarily causing hurt) r/w 3(5) BNS.

According to the police, there was no intimation from theatre management or the actor's team that they would be visiting the theatre.

The theatre management also did not make any additional provisions regarding security to manage the crowd.

Revathi (35) and her son Sri Tej (13) 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 them to the nearby Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital.

The doctor of Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital said that she was dead and son Sri Tej was advised to be shifted to another hospital for better treatment.

Allu Arjun on December 6 announced assistance of Rs 25 lakh for the deceased's family and said that he is 'deeply heartbroken'.

The actor assured the grieving family that he would meet them personally and extend every possible assistance.

Allu Arjun also promised to take care of the medical expenses of the boy, whose condition remained critical.

"Deeply heartbroken by the tragic incident at Sandhya Theatre. My heartfelt condolences go out to the grieving family during this unimaginably difficult time. I want to assure them they are not alone in this pain and will meet the family personally. While respecting their need for space to grieve, I stand committed to extend every possible assistance to help them navigate through this challenging journey," Allu Arjun posted on X.