Pushpa 2 stampede: Three from Sandhya Theatre’s management arrested

A 35-year-old woman, Revathi, was killed in the incident while her eight-year-old son Sritej was hospitalised.

Less than a week after thePushpa 2 stampede, the Chikkadpally police arrested three management members of Sandhya Theatre. A 35-year-old woman, Revathi, was killed in the incident while her eight-year-old son Sritej was hospitalised.

The arrested persons include M. Sandeep, one of the theatre owners, M. Nagaraju, 51, senior manager and Gandhakam Vijay Chander, 53, in-charge of the lower balcony where the incident occurred.

On December 4, a huge crowd gathered for the 9.40 p.m. show of the Allu Arjun-starrer. In anticipation of the actor’s visit, they rushed into the theatre along with him.

Police said no prior information about the actor was shared by his team or the theatre management. Moreover, despite being aware of his arrival, the theatre management failed to make any additional security provisions to manage the crowd or arrange separate entry or exit points for the actor’s team.

“Around 9:30 p.m, the actor arrived at the theatre with his personal security team and the people gathered there entered the lower balcony area along with him. His personal security team started pushing the public, which further aggravated the situation,” Chikkadpally ACP L. Ramesh Kumar explained.

The arrested individuals were remanded to judicial custody on Sunday. Police officials maintained that investigation is under way to ascertain the actor’s role. “We will take legal opinion and then take action,” Chikkadpally Inspector Raju Naik said.