HYDERABAD: Actor Allu Arjun was arrested Friday from his home in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of a 39-year-old mother of two in the Dec 4 stampede at a city theatre hosting the premiere of his new film, Pushpa 2: The Rule, a blockbuster.
Telangana high court granted Arjun interim bail till Jan 21 on a bond of Rs 50,000 after a local court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days. Justice J Sridevi said it was “unfair” to hold the actor to account for the stampede when the film’s distributors had intimated cops about his presence at the premiere.
However, Chanchalguda jail authorities told TOI that the actor would not be released in the night. Amid protests by fans outside, a jail official said Arjun would be released Saturday morning as the bail order had arrived late.
The family of Revathi, who died in the stampede, said Arjun was not to blame and they were ready to withdraw the complaint that led police to register a criminal case.
Actor’s arrest unwarranted, says family who filed plaint
Allu Arjun couldn’t be legally held responsible for the December 4 stampede at Sandhya Theatre, in which a woman was killed, as police had been duly informed about his presence at the premiere and should have taken adequate precaution, the actor’s counsels argued in a packed courtroom in Nampally on Friday.
DCP (central zone) Akshansh Yadav had denied on the morning after the stampede that they received an intimation from the theatre on Dec 2. On Dec 8, ACP (Chikadpally division) L Ramesh Kumar iterated that there was “no prior information ” about Allu Arjun being invited to the theatre.
The public prosecutor sought Allu Arjun’s judicial remand on the ground that despite police turning down Sandhya Theatre’s request, the actor and his entourage turned up, leading to what he said was “an uncontrollable situation”. Police also accused Allu Arjun of arriving at the theatre in a cavalcade for which there was no prior permission. “Waving to the people from the open-top car got the crowd excited, with more people joining in and rushing into the theatre,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecution took a similar line during arguments at HC hearing of Allu Arjun’s interim bail plea. Prosecutor Palle Nageswara Rao argued against any relief to the actor and requested that he be asked to file for regular bail on Dec 16.
Justice J Sridevi ruled that none of the charges – negligent act leading to death and prior knowledge about the likelihood of such a death, among others – was applicable in this case as police could not present proof of having rejected the theatre’s bandobast request.
Allu Arjun’s counsel Niranjan Reddy cited a Gujarat HC order granting “instant relief” to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan when he was charged with causing a person’s death in a stampede during a publicity event for his 2017 film Raees.
Justice Sridevi also granted interim bail to the four co-owners of Sandhya Theatre. She asked police to continue their investigation and directed the actor to cooperate with them.
The criminal case was filed against the actor, his security team and the management of Sandhya Theatre on the basis of a complaint filed by the family of the victim, Revathi. But the family said the actor’s arrest was unwarranted. “My son wanted to watch ‘Pushpa 2’, so I took them to the theatre. Allu Arjun was not at fault. I came to know about his arrest from a news portal,” Revathi’s husband Mogadampalli Bhaskar said. Revathi was with her nine-year-old son Sritej when police tried to disperse the swelling premiere-evening crowd jostling for a glimpse of the actor. The boy, a fan of Arjun, was seriously injured in the resultant stampede.
The day of drama began around 11.30am when police arrested Allu Arjun from his Jubilee Hills residence. He was taken to Chikadpally police station, by which time hundreds of fans had assembled there. The actor’s father, Allu Arvind, a film producer, and other family members trailed the police convoy.
The actor waved to his fans and smiled while being taken to Gandhi Hospital later for a medical examination. At 3.30pm, Allu Arjun was produced before the ninth additional chief metropolitan magistrate at Nampally criminal court.
The HC relief came moments after Allu Arjun entered Chanchalguda Central Jail, clad in a white hoodie with the film’s dialogue, “flower nahi, fire hei mein”, emblazoned on it. Late Friday, city police said, “It is beyond our resources to provide bandobast for every event. In specific cases where a heavy crowd is expected or some popular personality is visiting, the organiser personally visits the police station/ACP/DCP office and briefs about the programme, depending upon which we provide the bandobast.”
