Arjun’s Gesture Triggered Stampede: Cops
Hyderabad police clarify the Pushpa-2 incident, stating Allu Arjun's actions led to crowd chaos despite adequate arrangements
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad police on Friday said that actor Allu Arjun waving to the crowd at Sandhya Theatre on the night of December 4 from the sunroof of a car had triggered events that led to the stampede that resulted in the death of a woman and critical injuries to her son.
“The crowd was well in control till the actor arrived,” the police said in a statement. "He came to the theatre, came out from the sunroof of his vehicle and started waving to the public gathered there. This gesture attracted a lot of public towards the theatre main gate,” the police said.
“At the same time his private security started pushing people to make way for his vehicle. His team was intimated to take him back citing large public gathering but they didn’t act on it and the actor reportedly was there inside the theatre for more than two hours.”
The police released the statement to clarify the letter that was circulated on social media, written by Sandhya Cine Enterprise 70 MM to the Chikkadpally ACP requesting bandobast on December 4 and 5 in connection with the release of ‘Pushpa-2’.
The police explained that they receive a lot of requests for bandobast citing visits by some political personalities, film celebrities, religious programs etc., However, it is beyond their resources to provide bandobast for every event.
“In specific cases where a heavy crowd is expected or some popular personality is visiting, the organiser personally visits the police station/ACP /DCP office and briefs about the programme depending upon which the police provides the bandobast,” the statement said.
The police explained that in the Sandhya theatre case, the organiser did not meet any officer and simply submitted the letter in the inward section. No details were made available to the police. However, despite this they arranged suitable bandobast for crowd management outside the theatre.
The police also clarified that the actor’s claim of misbehaviour by the team that went to arrest him at his residence were untrue. When the police reached his residence, Allu Arjun requested them for some time to change his clothes.
“He went inside his bedroom, police personnel waited outside and took him into custody after he came out. There was no use of force or any misbehaviour with him by any police personnel,” the statement explained.