Hyderabad: Actor Allu Arjun will stay overnight at the Chanchalguda jail. Officials shifted the actor to Manjeera Class I barrack inside the jail for the night.
The actor was arrested just past noon in connection with a stampede at a theatre here during the premiere show of his latest film ‘Pushpa 2’, in which a city resident, M. Revati, died and her son is battling for life in a hospital.
After a medical check-up at the Gandhi Hospital, he was sent to judicial custody by a Nampally court. Hours later, Arjun secured interim bail for four weeks from the Telangana High Court.
His release on bail was delayed due to technical issues. Jail officials received a copy of the High Court order granting interim bail of the actor late at night, and said they would release the actor on Saturday.
The actor’s father Allu Aravind, who was with him all through the day, from his arrest at about 12.15 pm, to the medical check and at the court, left for his residence in a private cab.
Fans of the actor squatted at the Chanchalguda prison after the High Court granted bail, expecting that he would be released late at night. The police security at the jail was strengthened to prevent untoward incidents.
The Telangana High Court earlier in the day passed his bail application with the observation: “His personal liberty cannot be deprived just because he is an actor.”
Describing the death of a woman in the stampede as tragic, Justice Juvvadi Sridevi opined that the actor could not be held responsible for the death.
The arrest also took a political colour with Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharata Rashtra Samithi and YSR Congress condemning the arrest as “irresponsible and unwarranted”. The film fraternity also backed Arjun.
The case took an interesting turn with the complainant M Bhaskar, who lost his wife in the stampede, volunteering to withdraw the complaint.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who was in the national capital, said that the law would take its own course and that his government would treat everyone equally.
The Chief Minister said the actor could have watched the film in his home theatre.
High drama began at around 12.15 pm with Chikkadpally police picking the actor from his residence 10 days after the stampede and two days after he filed a petition in the High Court seeking quashing of the First Information Report.
The actor, who was taken in the police patrol vehicle, tried to put up a brave face all through his journey from his residence to the police station and the Nampally criminal court but was taken aback when the local court ordered for 14-day remand. Visuals of the actor trying to control tears went viral.
Actor’s father Allu Arjun accompanied him all through, while producer and the newly appointed chairman of the TG Film Development Corporation ‘Dil’ Raju rushed to Chikkadpally police station. After serving the arrest memo, the police took him to Gandhi Hospital and later produced him before the magistrate. Police made elaborate security arrangements wherever the actor was taken to.
