Reacting to the development, Allu Arjun’s legal team issued a statement. It read, “Nampally Court has issued summons to actor Allu Arjun to appear in person before the court on Monday for a hearing. We will give more details later about the matter.”

What happened

The stampede took place on December 4, 2024, when massive crowds gathered outside Sandhya Theatre at RTC X Roads for a special show of Pushpa 2: The Rule that the actor attended. According to the police, fans rushed toward the venue as soon as word spread that Allu Arjun had arrived, and officers resorted to a lathi charge in an attempt to control the crowd. In the chaos that followed, a woman, identified later as Revathi, fell and was trampled along with her son, Sri Teja. The family had reportedly gone to the screening because the boy was a fan of the actor. Revathi died from her injuries, while her son was left with serious injuries .

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The investigation that followed, pointed to multiple failures on the night of the incident. Police said the event went ahead without the necessary permits, since authorities had not cleared the actor’s appearance at the venue over safety concerns. The chargesheet also cited poor coordination between the theatre management, the event organisers and the actor’s own team, along with the absence of separate entry and exit routes for VIP movement, which investigators said worsened the crush of fans trying to get close to the actor. The National Human Rights Commission had earlier voiced its concerns, saying it found the police response inadequate given the size of the crowd that had gathered.

In the aftermath, Allu Arjun was arrested on December 13, 2024, and remanded to judicial custody, before the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail the same day. He later appeared before Chikkadpally Police for questioning on December 24, 2024, a session that lasted close to four hours. The Nampally Court subsequently granted him regular bail in early January 2025, on the condition that he furnish two sureties of Rs 50,000 each, cooperate with the investigation and report at the Chikkadpally Police Station every Sunday.

Police went on to file a chargesheet naming 23 accused in total, made up of the theatre’s owners and partners, their staff, the actor’s manager and other event personnel, in addition to Allu Arjun himself. Of those, 14 had already been arrested at the time the chargesheet was filed, while nine others, who had secured anticipatory bail, were served notices.

The summons issued this week to 19 of those accused, including Allu Arjun, marks the next step in that process, with the trial set to follow once all of them have appeared before the judge.