Sandhya theatre owner, mgmt booked over stampede

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad city police arrested the owner, senior manager, and in-charge of the Sandhya 70 mm theatre following the death of a woman in a stampede on the premises during the premiere show of Allu’s Arjun movie ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’. The Chikkadpally police arrested M Sandeep (37), a partner of Sandhya 70 mm Theatre, M Nagaraju (51), a senior manager, and Gandhakam Vijay Chander (53), Lower Balcony in charge. According to police, a 35-year-old woman, Revathi, lost her life, and her young son was injured in a stampede at Sandhya Theatre in Chikkadpally. The incident occurred on December 4 at the Sandhya 70 mm theatre in Chikkadpally RTC crossroad at 9:40 pm.

The ‘Pushpa 2’ premiere show was scheduled, and a huge crowd had gathered there to watch the movie. However, there was no intimation from the side of the theatre management or actors’ team that they will be visiting the theatre.

The theatre management did not make any additional provisions regarding security to manage the crowd, nor was there any separate entry or exit for the actor’s team, though the theatre management had information about their arrival. Following the incident, a case has been booked under section 105, 118(1) r/w 3(5) of the BNS act in Chikkadpally police station. Chikkadpally police arrested the accused and produced them before the court, which sent them to judicial custody.