With the Hyderabad Police and the Telangana government facing criticism over actor Allu Arjun’s arrest, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy Friday said that he would issue a statement after ascertaining what had happened. He was responding to queries from media persons outside the Parliament in the evening.
Hyderabad Police, especially officials from Chikkadpally police station and Chikkadpally division, faced flak during the day for the manner in which they took Arjun into custodyallegedly following him to his bedroom.
The police are also facing questions over their handling of the crowd on the night of December 4, when the premiere of Pushpa 2 at Sandhya Theatre ended in a stampede that killed a woman and left her son critical.
While the police have blamed the Sandhya Theatre management for not informing them in advance, the management has released a purported copy of a request letter they had submitted to the Assistant Commissioner of Police of Chikkadpally division, informing about the actor’s visit to attend the premiere and seeking police bandobast on December 4.
Sandhya Cine Enterprise 70MM, the theatre owners, claimed they did inform the police two days before the premiere and sought police bandobast. The purported letter from December 2 states: “We request you to arrange to provide police bandobast at Sandhya 70 MM in connection with the release of Pushpa 2 on December 4 because there will be a heavy fans crowd. The hero, heroine, VIPs and production unit of the film are coming to see the movie,” it states.
However, according to police officials, the ACP’s office wrote back to the theatre, asking it not to invite Arjun and other cast members as it would create a law and order situation.
“Allu arjun also took out a short road show near the theatre for which there was no permission,” an official claimed.
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Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshansh Yadav in an earlier statement said there was no intimation from the side of the theatre management or the actor’s team that they would be visiting. “The theatre management did not make any additional provisions regarding security to manage the crowd nor was there any separate entry or exit for the actor’s team,” he said.
The police also blamed the actor’s security staff for allegedly pushing people, which aggravated the situation as there was already a huge gathering at the theatre.
It was based on the letters exchanged between Sandhya Theatre management and ACP (Chikkdapally) that the Nampally court sent Arjun to 14-day judicial custody, while the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks.
Both courts sought more information about what transpired between the theatre management and the police and directed both parties to present documents.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
