Hyderabad:

Unseen footage from Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre – where a stampede December 4, as actor Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa 2: The Rise‘ was being screened, killed a young mother and critically injured her eight-year-old child – shows the confusion and chaos that prevailed that night.

The 14-second clip doesn’t have audio but shows a crowd pushing and shoving as they funnel through a doorway. The metal gates on either side are literally torn from their hinges. The ground is littered with pieces of paper and plastic water bottles stomped on by the surging mob.

The timestamp on the video is around 9.15 pm, which is 15 minutes before Allu Arjun arrived – unannounced, according to the police – at the theatre. News of the actor’s arrival, the cops have alleged, led to the stampede as adoring fans fell over each other to get a glimpse of the actor.

In the crush that followed Revathi, 35, was killed and her eight-year-old son, Sri Tej, was left critically injured. Mr Arjun, 41, was arrested nine days after the tragic incident.

A lower court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days but, in a cinema-like twist, a few hours later the Telangana High Court granted interim bail, underscoring the actor’s right to liberty.

Mr Arjun spent the night in jail anyway because the court’s order came late.

Out on bail, the actor was summoned today to join the police investigation. He did so, appearing at the city’s Chikkadpally Police Station for a nearly four-hour question session.

Among the questions thrown at him by the police were:

• Did you know police permission had been denied for you to come to the premiere?
• Who took the call to proceed with the plan (for the actor to attend the special screening) despite denial of police permission?
• Did any police officer inform you about the stampede outside?
• When did you know about the death of the woman?

READ | “Did You Know…”: What Cops Asked Allu Arjun In ‘Pushpa 2’ Stampede Case

The actor and his security team, and the theatre owner, general and security managers have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. 

On his part, Allu Arjun has rejected allegations he was responsible for the stampede and the death of the woman. On Saturday, he told reporters the incident was “very unfortunate” and criticised what he called “misinformation” and “character assassination” against him.

READ | “Misinformation, Character Assassination”: Actor Allu Arjun On Stampede Row

Public sentiment, though, has been divided; on Sunday there was a protest outside his home.

A mob barged in and vandalised parts of the compound; they broke flower pots and threw tomatoes at the building. The protesters, reportedly university students, also shouted slogans till they were ejected.

Hyderabad:

Hyderabad police on Friday issued a clarification regarding a letter being circulated in the media requesting police bandobast for December 4 and 5 in connection with the release of Allu Arjun’s film ‘Pushpa-2’.

In a press release, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Hyderabad City said, “Clarification regarding the letter being circulating in media addressed by Sandhya Cine Enterprise 70 MM to ACP Chikkadpally requesting bandobust on 04/05-12-2024 in connection with release of Pushpa-2. We receive a lot of requests for bandobast citing visits by some political personalities, film celebrities, religious programs etc., However, it is beyond our resources to provide bandobast for every event”.

Sandhya Cine Enterprise had requested Hyderabad police on December 2 for the arrangement of bandobast on December 4 and 5 in connection with the release of the ‘Pushpa-2.’

Police said that the organiser did not meet any officer and simply submitted the letter. Police also said that the crowd was well in control till the actor arrived.

“In specific cases where a heavy crowd is expected or some popular personality is visiting, the organizer personally visits the police station / ACP / DCP office and briefs about the program depending upon which we provide the bandobust. In this case, the organizer did not meet any officer and simply submitted the letter in the inward section. No details were made available to the police despite this we arranged suitable bandobust for crowd management outside the theatre. The crowd was well in control till the actor arrived,” police said.

Police alleged that the actions of the actor led to a stampede and subsequently the death of a woman.

“He came to the theatre, came out from the sunroof of his vehicle and started waving to the public gathered there. This gesture attracted a lot of the public towards the theatre’s main gate. At the same time, his private security started pushing people to make way for his vehicle. His team was intimated to take him back citing a large public gathering but they didn’t act on it and Allu Arjun was there inside the theatre for more than two hours. Therefore, it is clear that adequate police bandobast was in place, it was his actions which led to this unfortunate incident, in which a lady died and her son is still unconscious on a ventilator even after 9 days of the incident,” police said.

Hyderabad police also dismissed the allegations that the police personnel misbehaved with Allu Arjun at the time of his arrest.

“Another issue is that the police personnel misbehaved with Allu Arjun at the time of arrest is also not true. When police reached his residence, he requested some time to change his clothes. He went inside his bedroom, police personnel waited outside and took him into custody when he came out. There was no use of force or any misbehaviour with him by any police personnel. He was given enough time to interact with his family and wife and he himself came out and entered the police vehicle,” police further said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)