Wed Mar 12 07:22:18 UTC 2025: ## Telugu Superstar Soundarya Dies in Plane Crash: Renewed Interest in 2004 Tragedy
**Bengaluru, India –** Twenty years after the tragic death of Telugu superstar Soundarya, a new police complaint has reignited interest in the case. The actress, who was also a doctor and a recent BJP member, perished in a plane crash on April 17, 2004, along with three others.
Soundarya, 32 at the time and pregnant, was traveling from Jakkur airstrip near Bengaluru to Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, to campaign for the BJP general elections. The single-engine Cessna 180 she was on board crashed just minutes after takeoff at approximately 11:05 am, bursting into flames and killing all four occupants: Soundarya, her brother Amarnath, BJP worker Ramesh Kadam, and pilot Joy Philips. The impact occurred on the campus of Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane wobble before it nosedived into the ground. Investigations at the time suggested a stall after a steep left turn at a height of approximately 150 feet. The bodies were reportedly too badly burned for immediate identification.
The incident drew national attention, with then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressing his condolences. High-profile figures such as Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna and Union Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley also responded to the tragedy.
Soundarya, known for her work in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam cinema, gained widespread fame after appearing alongside Amitabh Bachchan in the 1999 film *Sooryavansham*. She had married software executive Sridhar just months before her death.
Now, a complaint filed in Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam district alleges that Soundarya’s death was not accidental but a murder linked to a property dispute with Telugu actor Mohan Babu. This recent development has brought renewed scrutiny to the circumstances surrounding the 20-year-old plane crash. Police are currently investigating the new claims.
First Piper 