Popular Telugu actor Rajasekhar escaped with minor injuries after his car met with an accident late on Tuesday night at Hyderabad's Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Pedda Golconda.
Speaking to TNM, Sub Inspector N Sridhar from the Shamshabad police station said, "He managed to escape without injuries. By the time police reached the spot, he (actor Rajasekhar) left the place.” Police also said that the actor was undergoing treatment at his own residence.
It is unclear whether he was driving the car at the time of the accident. Rajasekhar was reportedly travelling back from Vijayawada with a group of people.
The police are also collecting CCTV footage and other evidence from the area, to assess the reason for the accident. “We are not sure if he was under the influence of alcohol. We are seeking a legal opinion and a case may be filed soon,” the SI said.
As soon as the accident took place, police said that the black Mercedes, bearing number plate TS07FZ1234, deployed its airbags, thereby avoiding any serious injuries to its occupants.
Incidentally, a quick look at the e-challan on the website of the city’s police shows that the owner of the car is Rajasekhar Varadharajan and it already had three pending challans on it, all of them for over-speeding and dangerous driving.
While one challan was issued near the ORR at Ghatkesar on July 31, two other challans were issued on the ORR near Chennama hotel in Rajendranagar on October 2 and October 18 respectively.
Roadside speed trap cameras are set up at every few kilometres on ORR. The challan issued on October 2, with a photograph of the car, estimated that it was travelling at 161 km/hr, against the speed limit of 100 km/hr on ORR.
Rajasekhar had met with an accident previously in 2017 as well, but had denied driving under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Rajasekhar and his wife Jeevitha are popular actors, who also are the Vice-President and General Secretary of Tollywood's Movie Artistes Association (MAA) respectively.