Telugu actor Allu Arjun had attended the premiere of his film Pushpa 2 despite refusing police permission and refused to leave, following the stampede-like situation, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has said. A video has now emerged of police escorting the actor out, supporting his claims that police had to throw him out of the theater.
The stampede at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre, which took place on December 4, has claimed the life of a woman. Her eight-year-old son remains in a coma and is admitted to a city hospital.
“We have nothing personally against Allu Arjun or any other individual. The marketing of a film is not as important as people’s safety. They are heroes in films, but on the ground they should also understand the problems of the society,” Telangana police chief Jitender said.
Yesterday, the chief minister had told the assembly that the superstar attended the premiere of his film ‘Pushpa 2’ despite the police refusing permission.
He had even waved from his car’s sunroof on his way in and out, holding a sort of road show and triggering a stampede-like situation, in which a 35-year-old woman died and her son was seriously injured, Reddy said.
Even after the woman’s death, the actor did not leave the cinema hall, prompting the police to force him out, the chief minister had said.
Allu Arjun has contradicted the claims. “Permission was sought from the theater management. The police cleared the way so I went in. I am a law-abiding citizen. I would have left if I had been told there was no permit,” he has said.
“It wasn’t a road show or a procession. I just waved to people and entered the theater. No police approached me to leave. My own manager told me it’s an uncontrollable crowd and asked me to leave,” says the actor .
