Pushpa 2 touching a dizzying ₹1,000 crore globally on its eighth day, arrest, then bail within a few hours while being taken to jail — Allu Arjun’s Friday was no less dramatic than his blockbusters.
Arjun, one of the country’s biggest superstars, was arrested in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede during the screening of Pushpa 2 in Hyderabad on December 4 and sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by a local court. Later in the day, Telangana High Court granted four weeks’ interim bail to Arjun, who was being taken to the jail at Chanchalguda in Hyderabad when the verdict was pronounced.
A 35-year-old woman died and her 8-year-old son had to be hospitalised on the night of December 4 when a large number of fans thronged the Sandhya theatre here to catch a glimpse of the actor.
The city police had registered a case against Arjun, his security team and the theatre management under BNS Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt).
Arjun was on Friday taken into custody amid tight security from his residence and taken to Chikkadpally police station in a police vehicle.
The husband of the deceased woman said on Friday that he “doesn’t hold Arjun responsible for the tragedy”. Bhaskar stated he was “ready to withdraw” his case. “Allu Arjun is not at fault for coming to the theatre. I am ready to withdraw my case,” he told reporters.
Bhaskar added that he had not been informed by the police about Arjun’s arrest and learnt about it only from the news.
Last week, the actor had announced ₹25 lakh for the bereaved family and said he would meet them personally.
As reports claimed that Arjun was not allowed to finish his breakfast by the cops who came to arrest him, and visuals showed him sipping coffee with policemen around him, Arjun had much of the nation transfixed on Friday.
Visuals purported to show him arguing with a cop and objecting to the police entering his bedroom. “It is definitely not a good thing,” he was heard saying.
Arjun’s Pushpa 2 co-star Rashmika Mandanna defended the Telugu superstar, saying an individual should not be singled out for the unfortunate incident.
“I can’t believe what I am seeing right now.... The incident that happened was unfortunate and deeply saddening,” Mandanna posted on X.
“However, it is disheartening to see everything being blamed on a single individual. This situation is both unbelievable and heartbreaking.”
The BJP and the BRS lashed out at the ruling Congress in Telangana over Arjun’s arrest. BJP leader and Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the actor deserved better treatment, while BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao slammed the government for treating the star like a “common criminal”.
Relief for actor
Karnataka High Court on Friday granted bail to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, the prime accused in the murder of a fan. The actor had been arrested by Bengaluru police on June 11 for allegedly killing Renuka Swamy, whom Darshan had accused of sending obscene messages to his girlfriend.
