AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi hit out at Telugu superstar Allu Arjun for his insensitive actions and lack of responsibility following a tragic stampede at the premiere of his blockbuster film ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ in Hyderabad.
While addressing the Telangana Assembly, Owaisi pointed out that despite the stampede resulting in the death of a woman, Allu Arjun continued to watch the movie and even waved to fans as he exited the venue.
Owaisi, without explicitly naming the actor, stated, “According to my information, when Allu Arjun learned about the stampede and the loss of life, he remarked, ‘now the movie will be hit.'”
The stampede occurred on December 4 when a large crowd gathered at the Sandhya theatre to catch a glimpse of Arjun and his co-star Rashmika Mandhana. This tragic incident led to the death of a 39-year-old woman and left her son severely injured. Authorities noted that the theatre management failed to make proper crowd control arrangements.
“Despite the stampede incident, he (Allu Arjun) still watched the film and waved at fans from his car on his way out. He didn’t even take the time to check on the victims or their families. I also attend public meetings with large crowds, but I ensure that no chaos occurs,” Owaisi added.
On December 13, Allu Arjun was arrested at his home amid dramatic circumstances related to the incident. A lower court initially placed him in judicial custody for 14 days, but he was granted interim bail by the Telangana High Court on the same day. He had to spend a night in jail due to delays in the processing of the bail order.
During the Assembly session, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy accused Allu Arjun of attending the screening of ‘Pushpa 2’ despite police having denied permission. Reddy claimed that the actor did not immediately leave the cinema after the tragic incident, necessitating police intervention to escort him out.
Responding to the issue raised by Akbaruddin Owaisi, Reddy highlighted existing video evidence that criticized Allu Arjun for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowd despite the overwhelming number of fans present.
Reddy also noted that the theatre management had requested police security in a letter dated December 2, ahead of the event on December 4, but the police rejected the application, citing crowd management challenges.