NHRC Notice to CS Ramakrishna Rao Over Sandhya Stampede
Commission questions Hyderabad police lapses, seeks Rs 5L compensation for victim’s family
Hyderabad: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao over lapses in the report submitted by the Hyderabad police on the Sandhya Theatre stampede case — which resulted in the death of a woman and serious injuries to her son during the screening of Pushpa-2: The Rule.
Referring to the report, the Commission said it failed to understand why the police had allowed the crowd, the accused actor, and the management to gather at the venue for the event, which did not have permission.
The police should have taken legal action against the accused actor and management at the first instance, even before the incident, for violating the law by attending and organising the unlawful event, the Commission said in a proceeding.
“There must have been some grounds on which permission was denied for organising the event. The police might have foreseen the present accident, particular injuries, or damage, which compelled them to deny permission. Therefore, it cannot be said that such an accident was unforeseeable. In the absence of permission, the event was unlawful. However, it is not clear whether the police warned the crowd, the management, and the accused actor to refrain from any unlawful activities, or whether the police waited for the occurrence of this unfortunate accident,” it said.
According to the NHRC, the Hyderabad police, in an action-taken report submitted on March 20, 2025, stated that during the course of the investigation, it was revealed that permission for the event had been rejected and actor Allu Arjun did not have authorisation to hold a roadshow.
Further, the police said that arrangements were made for crowd control as is professionally done for new movie releases, despite the rejection of permission. They stated that inadequate infrastructure at the theatre — including limited parking, and entry and exit points — contributed to the crowd gathering and the subsequent incident.
In light of these concerns and observations, the Commission issued a show-cause notice to the Chief Secretary, asking why it should not recommend compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased, Revathi. The Hyderabad Police Commissioner was directed to ensure a fair investigation into the matter and submit an additional status report within six weeks.
