It had all the trappings of a hit reality show. A film celebrity father and his son living in the same house develop differences. Both lodge police complaints and visit hospitals citing injuries. Backing them were dozens of bouncers on each side who had a face-off in front of cameras. In the melee, a TV news reporter got seriously injured necessitating surgery to treat a fracture in the head region. That is not all, a maid of the house allegedly attempted suicide after her candid conversation regarding the issue was recorded secretly and aired on TV channels. A moving audio clip of the father went viral which kept the audience further glued. Action scenes like the break-in of a gate, and emotional scenes involving teary eyes were observed, all of which were captured in the last three days by an ample number of cameras and mics.
Journalists staged protests at various locations including Film Nagar, Rachakonda CP office and senior actor Mohan Babu’s residence in Jalpally against the assault on their colleagues last night. They raised slogans such as “Mohan Babu down down” and “We Want Justice” and… pic.twitter.com/Mas2sRkFEH
— Hyderabad Mail (@Hyderabad_Mail) December 11, 2024
It all started with a distress phone call made on Sunday to the police helpline from the farmhouse of senior actor, Padma Shri recipient and educationist Mohan Babu. The call was reportedly made from the side of Manchu Manoj, son of Mohan Babu, who complained of physical assault. Manoj is also a Telugu actor who resides in his father’s palatial farmhouse located on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Manoj, along with his wife Monica, visited a corporate hospital and the medical report showed injuries to the neck, stomach and legs. Manoj later officially complained to the police stating that unknown men attacked him. He refused to name his father in the complaint.
At this point, it was clear that all was not well between the father and the son, but the exact reasons and details of the events remained unclear. A large number of media crew stationed themselves outside the farmhouse gates. Manoj’s sister, Lakshmi, who is an actress and based out of Mumbai came to the farmhouse for a brief period. It looked like an unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation. She soon left the premises. Meanwhile, Mohan Babu complained to the police that his son and daughter-in-law were trespassing on his property and that there was a threat to his life.
The visuals outside the gates of the farmhouse turned more dramatic as Mohan Babu’s elder son, Vishnu returned from Dubai. He instilled dozens of bouncers, took control of the situation and expelled Manoj’s bouncers. Manoj returned with his men alleging that his young daughter was inside the premises and he feared for her life.
Before that, his father released an audio clip admonishing him and making it clear that he wasn’t welcome in his house anymore. Some of his belongings were also shifted from the house. Manoj with his supporters broke open the gate later forcing his way into the farmhouse and stayed put. When reporters followed Manoj into the compound of the farmhouse, an irate Mohan Babu attacked a journalist with his mic which left him with a serious fracture on his face needing hospitalisation. Mohan Babu too was hospitalised due to high BP, high heart rate and injuries to the face.
The Telangana police have issued notices to Mohan Babu, Vishnu and Manoj to appear before them and also surrender their licensed weapons. Vishnu and Manoj, both teary-eyed, appeared before the media and spoke about the sequence of events superficially without getting to the root cause of the conflict. The police for now have deployed officers outside the farmhouse to ensure law and order and have also warned the bouncers against causing trouble.
It has been learnt that there has been a growing rift between Manoj and his father Mohan Babu and elder son Vishnu on a few issues for the last few years. The fresh episode seems to be connected to Manoj alleging certain irregularities in the functioning of educational institutions managed by Vishnu and his close associates.
