Hours after arrest, actor Allu Arjun gets interim bail in film premiere stampede case

Arjun, his team and the theatre management were booked after a woman died in the stampede

Agencies Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday granted actor Allu Arjun a four-week interim bail, hours after he was arrested by the Hyderabad Police in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede at the premiere of his film Pushpa 2 at Sandhya Theatre earlier this month, The Indian Express reported. A trial court had remanded Arjun to 14-day judicial custody earlier in the day. He had been taken into custody from his residence at around noon and was questioned by the police, The Hindu reported.

The police had on December 5 filed a case against Arjun, his security team and the management of the venue after the death of the 35-year-old woman. The stampede occurred on the evening of December 4. The case was filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt.Arjun had expressed condolences about the woman’s death and promised to donate Rs 25 lakh to her family as a goodwill gesture, according to The Hindu. On December 11, he filed a petition in the High Court seeking to quash the first information report against him.

The police said at the time that the theatre where the film premiere took place had failed to inform them that the lead actor and other cast members were going to come there.They added that when Arjun arrived at the theatre, his personal security team and the crowd tried to enter the premises with him. Three other persons part of the theatre’s mangement had already been arrested in connection with the case, The News Minute reported.

Allu Arjun not at fault, says husband of woman who died at 'Pushpa 2' premiere

The husband of a woman who died when fans jostled during the December 4 premiere show of 'Pushpa 2' at a film theatre here, said on Friday he doesn't hold the film's male lead Allu Arjun "responsible for the tragedy".

Bhaskar, the woman's husband, stated he was "ready to withdraw" his case over the incident. "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 was not informed by the police about Arjun's arrest and learned about it only from the news. His eight-year-old son, who suffered serious injuries in the incident, has been undergoing treatment at a private super-speciality hospital.