Over two decades after ‘Sooryavansham’ actor Soundarya’s death in a plane crash, serious allegations have emerged against veteran Telugu actor Mohan Babu. A police complaint has been filed in Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam district alleging the untimely death of the actor was not accidental, but a murder linked to a property dispute linked to Mohan Babu.
Complainant Chittimallu has accused Mohan Babu of pressuring Soundarya and her brother to sell six acres of land in a village in Shamshabad. But the siblings had refused to give in, leading to a major conflict between the two actors. After Soundarya’s death, Mohan Babu had taken possession of the land forcefully, he alleged.
No FIR has been registered in this matter yet. It is not known if and how the complainant is related to the two actor.
Soundarya, a popular Kannada actor, had played the role of Radha in the 1999 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Sooryavansham’. She and her brother died on April 17, 2004 when her private jet crashed while flying to Karimnagar for a political event. She was 31 and reportedly pregnant at that time. Her body couldn’t be recovered from the crash site.
Calling for a fresh investigation into Mohan Babu’s role in the alleged land grab, the complainant has urged the state government to seize the land.
He has also marked his complaint to the Khammam Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and the District Officer and requested police protection citing threats to his life.
In his complaint, Chittimallu has also flagged the property dispute between Mohan Babu and his younger son Manchu Manoj.
The Manchu family dispute had escalated last year with an enraged Mohan Babu attacking a journalist at his home. Mohan Babu’s elder son Manchu Vishnu had played down the dispute as a family quarrel that would be resolved soon.