Hyderabad police deny ‘misbehaving’ with Allu Arjun during arrest, justify detention

Hours after the arrest of actor Allu Arjun in connection with the death of a fan at a Pushpa 2: The Rule screening, reports began claiming that the cops had misbehaved with the actor.

Hyderabad police on Friday issued a clarification regarding that and also justified the detention of the actor, who was eventually released on bail.

Hyderabad Police on Sandhya Theatre letter

In a press release, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Hyderabad City said, “Clarification regarding the letter being circulating in media addressed by Sandhya Cine Enterprise 70 MM to ACP Chikkadpally requesting bandobust on 04/05-12-2024 in connection with release of Pushpa-2. We receive a lot of requests for bandobast citing visits by some political personalities, film celebrities, religious programs etc., However, it is beyond our resources to provide bandobast for every event”.

Sandhya Cine Enterprise had requested Hyderabad police on December 2 for the arrangement of bandobast on December 4 and 5 in connection with the release of the Pushpa 2.

Police said that the organiser did not meet any officer and simply submitted the letter. Police also said that the crowd was well in control till the actor arrived.

“In specific cases where a heavy crowd is expected or some popular personality is visiting, the organizer personally visits the police station / ACP / DCP office and briefs about the program depending upon which we provide the bandobust. In this case, the organizer did not meet any officer and simply submitted the letter in the inward section. No details were made available to the police despite this we arranged suitable bandobust for crowd management outside the theatre. The crowd was well in control till the actor arrived,” police said.

Police alleged that his actions (actor) led to a Sandhya theatre incident and, subsequently, the death of a woman.

“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 the public towards the theatre’s main gate. 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 a large public gathering but they didn’t act on it and Allu Arjun was there inside the theatre for more than two hours. Therefore, it is clear that adequate police bandobast was in place, it was his actions which led to this unfortunate incident, in which a lady died and her son is still unconscious on a ventilator even after 9 days of the incident,” police said.

On allegations of misbehaviour

Hyderabad police also dismissed the allegations that the police personnel misbehaved with Allu Arjun at the time of his arrest.

“Another issue is that the police personnel misbehaved with Allu Arjun at the time of arrest is also not true.

When police reached his residence, he requested some time to change his clothes. He went inside his bedroom, police personnel waited outside and took him into custody when he came out. There was no use of force or any misbehaviour with him by any police personnel. He was given enough time to interact with his family and wife and he himself came out and entered the police vehicle,” police further said.

Allu Arjun was arrested from his Banjara Hills home on Friday afternoon in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede at Sandhya Theatre during Pushpa 2 premiere last week. A local court sent him to 14-day judicial custody but the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail later in the evening. The actor did have to spend the night in jail, though, due to an issue with the bail order. The actor walked out of jail on Saturday morning.