Allu Arjun says he isn’t involved in the stampede tragedy

Allu Arjun addressed the media on Saturday, December 14, following his release on bail. The actor was arrested on Friday in connection with a stampede at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre during a screening of Pushpa 2: The Rule, which resulted in a woman’s death.  

At the press conference, Allu Arjun expressed his condolences and clarified, “We’re extremely sorry for the family and I will personally be there to support them in whatever way possible. It was purely accidental. I was inside a cinema theatre watching a film with my family and an accident happened outside. It’s purely of no direct connection to me. It’s purely accidental, purely unintentional. My love and sympathies are genuinely there with the family and I will be there to support them in whatever way possible.”

However, the Hyderabad police alleged that Allu Arjun’s surprise appearance, during which he waved to fans from his car’s sunroof, caused chaos at the theatre entrance. They stated, “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.”

The police also claimed that despite warnings about the growing crowd, the actor’s private security allegedly pushed people aside to clear a path, worsening the situation. “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.”