Hyderabad: V.V. Sumalatha Devi, president of the Telugu Film and TV Dancers and Dance Directors Association (TFTDDA), has filed a complaint with Banjara Hills police alleging she was physically assaulted and threatened. The complaint comes amid a leadership dispute that has been building within the association for months.
The Background
TFTDDA’s leadership has been contested since at least late August, when a section of members reportedly elected choreographer Raghu Master as a rival president at a meeting Sumalatha Devi’s camp does not recognise. The dispute has already reached the courts: a Kukatpally court issued an interim injunction blocking a general body meeting planned for 13 September at a hotel in Indira Nagar, after examining material that reportedly included police complaints. The matter is next listed for hearing on 12 October.
What Sumalatha Devi Alleges
In her latest complaint, Sumalatha Devi alleged that a group of people disrupted a general body meeting at a guest house in Indira Nagar and attempted to remove association records, including the minutes book and agenda papers. She said that when she and two other members tried to intervene, they were assaulted, and that she was threatened with consequences if she did not step down as president. Deccan Bhoomi has not been able to independently verify these specific allegations, and no public response has yet come from the other side.
What She Has Asked Police to Do
Sumalatha Devi has asked police to examine CCTV footage from the venue along with mobile phone videos and audio recordings from the meeting, to recover the association records she says were taken, and to provide security for herself and her family.
What Happens Next
The complaint is now a matter for police investigation, running alongside the association’s leadership dispute, which returns to court on 12 October. Deccan Bhoomi will follow the investigation and report further developments as they emerge.
