Police Grills Allu Arjun on Sandhya Stampede

Hyderabad: Film actor Allu Arjun, Accused No. 11 in the December 4 Sandhya theatre stampede case, was questioned for almost four hours at the office of the assistant commissioner of police at Chikkadpally, after being summoned to appear before the police.

He was accompanied by his father Allu Arvind and father-in-law Chandrasekhar Reddy, as well as his legal team headed by Sudarshan Reddy.

According to sources, the questioning began at 11.05 am by a team led by central zone DCP Akshansh Yadav and Chikkadpally ACP Ramesh Kumar, and police personnel who were present during the stampede which claimed the life of a woman and left her son grievously injured. The questioning session was videographed.

The sources said the police played a 10-minute video on the stampede in the presence of Arjun and his counsel Sudarshan Reddy and asked questions. Allu Arvind and Chandrashaker Reddy were not allowed to accompany Arjun for the questioning.

Sources said that the investigating team asked Arjun who gave him permission to visit the theatre to watch the special show ‘Pushpa-2’, and informed him of the permission.

The police asked Arjun if the theatre management had informed him that the police had denied permission for his visit. They asked Arjun if he had informed the police station concerned about his expected visit and if he had taken permission for his roadshow.

The police also asked the actor if he was aware about the death of Revati in the stampede when he was present in the theatre. They asked him to name his family members who were present at the theatre to watch the movie.

The police asked Arjun how many bouncers were with him and the name of the agency from which they were hired. They sought details of bouncers and fans who obstructed police officers from performing their duty on December 4.

Meanwhile, one of Arjun’s bouncers, identified as Anthony, was reportedly arrested by the Chikkadpally police.

Sources said that Arjun cooperated with the police but maintained that it was an unfortunate accident. After the investigation concluded at 2.50 pm, Arjun went straight to his house.

Before leaving for the Chikkadpally police station for questioning, Arjun looked tense. Based on the advice of his counsel, Arjun restricted his personal security from accompanying him.

Arjun started from his house at Road No. 68, Jubilee Hills, at around 10.30 am. The central and west zone police provided security along the route. Over 12 sub-lanes in Chikkadpally having access to the ACP office were barricaded. No one except the locals were allowed to enter lanes after producing their ID cards and address proofs.

Around 400 police personnel were deployed in the vicinity of the ACP office. After Arjun entered the ACP office, the task force personnel blocked its main gate.

On Monday, B. Raju Naik, investigative officer for the Sandhya theatre stampede case, issued a notice to Arjun seeking his appearance at the Chikkadpally police station. “The case is under investigation and your presence is quite essential before the undersigned officer to elicit answers from you about the incident and if necessary for visiting the scene of offence, in order to ascertain the true facts,” the notice read. Though the Telangana High Court granted an interim bail to Arjun on December 13, it asked him to cooperate with the investigation.

ACCUSED LIST

A1: Agamati Pedaramireddy, Sandhya theatre co-owner

A2: Agamati Chinnarami Reddy, Sandhya theatre co-owner

A3: M. Sandeep, partner

A4: Sumit, partner

A5: Agamati Vinay, partner

A6: Ashutosh Reddy, partner

A7: Renukadevi, partner

A8: Aruna Reddy, partner

A9: Nagaraju, theatre manager

A10: Vijaychander, in-charge of lower balcony

A11: Allu Arjun, actor

A12: Santosh, Arjun’s personal assistant

A13: Sarathbanni, Arjun’s manager

A14: Ramesh, Arjun’s security

A15: Raju, Arjun’s security

A16: Vinay Kumar, Arjun’s fans association

A17: Farwaz, bodyguard

A18: Naveen Yerneni, Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar and Mohan Cherukuri of Mythri Movie Makers