14 DEC 2024 (Press Ki Taquat Bureau) : Telugu film star Allu Arjun was released from Chanchalguda prison in Hyderabad at around 6:40 am on Saturday, a day after the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks in connection with the stampede at the premiere of his movie Pushpa 2 earlier this month.
Despite being granted bail on Friday, the paperwork did not reach the jail authorities until late that night, meaning he had to spend the night in custody. The prison manual specifies that prisoners cannot be released after hours. The High Court also required a surety of Rs 50,000 to be submitted by the actor.
Arjun had been arrested on Friday morning from his Hyderabad residence. The drama unfolded as the interim bail order arrived just as the police were taking Arjun to Chanchalguda prison after a lower court had sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
The stampede at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad during the premiere of Pushpa 2 on December 4 resulted in the death of 39-year-old M Revathi and left her nine-year-old son in critical condition.
A case was filed at Chikkadapally police station against Allu Arjun, his security team, and Sandhya Theatre management based on a complaint by M Revathi’s husband, M Bhaskar. The case was registered under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 118(1) r/w 3(5) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt) of the BNS.
On Friday, there was a back-and-forth between Sandhya Theatre management and the police. The theatre management claimed that they had submitted a letter requesting police security for the premiere, but the police stated they receive similar requests for security during celebrity events, and the organisers did not meet with any officer in person. The police also said the letter was simply submitted to the inward section.
According to the police statement, “Allu Arjun came to the theatre and waved to the public from the sunroof of his vehicle. This attracted a large crowd towards the theatre’s main gate. At the same time, his private security team began pushing people to make way for the vehicle. Despite being warned about the crowd, Arjun remained inside the theatre for over two hours.”
The police concluded, “It is clear that adequate police security was in place. However, his actions led to this unfortunate incident, in which a woman died, and her son remains unconscious on a ventilator even after nine days.”
