Bandi Sanjay slams arrest of Allu Arjun, calls police action "Disrespectful"
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticized the manner in which National Award-winning actor Allu Arjun was arrested.
“Taking Allu Arjun straight from his bedroom without even allowing him time to change is a disgraceful act of mismanagement and disrespect,” said Sanjay. He emphasized that a star of Allu Arjun’s stature, who has brought global recognition to Indian cinema, deserved to be treated with dignity.
Sanjay expressed sorrow over a woman’s death during the stampede at Sandhya Theatre but blamed the Congress-led state government for its failure to manage the massive crowd. “The success of Pushpa: The Rise created anticipation for Pushpa: The Rule. A massive turnout was expected due to Allu Arjun’s popularity. The real failure lies in the Congress government’s inability to ensure proper arrangements for a high-profile event,” he added.
Bandi criticizes congress govt over Sandhya Theatre stampede
Allu Arjun was arrested by Chikkadpally Police over the stampede during the Pushpa 2: The Rule premiere at Sandhya Theatre, RTC Crossroads, Hyderabad on December 4, 2024. According to the police, at around 9:30 p.m. when Allu Arjun arrived with his security team, the crowd gathered to see the actor caused overcrowding in the lower balcony, where Revathi and her son suffocated.
Magudampalli Bhaskar’s complaint stated that his wife Revathi and son Sai Tej couldn’t breathe and had fallen due to suffocation in the lower balcony hall. The police rescued them and took them to Durga Bai Deshmukh hospital, but hiswife was declared dead. After First-Aid, his son was shifted to KIMS Hospital, Begumpet for better treatment.
Bhaskar alleged, “The incident was caused by Sandhya 70 MM Theatre management, staff, and the crowd surged due to actor Allu Arjun and his security staff. Without prior arrangements, allowing the huge public into the theatre, and making us vacate the seats led to stampede, leading to my wife’s death and my son’s hospitalization.”
After the deceased woman's husband lodged a complaint, a case was filed against Allu Arjun, his security team, the theatre owner, and others. The case was registered under sections 105, 118(1) r/w 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Act.
Earlier, the Chikkadpally police arrested M. Sandeep (37), co-owner of Sandhya 70mm Theatre, M. Nagaraju (51), senior manager, and Gandhakam Vijay Chander (53), in charge of the lower balcony. After being presented in court, they were remanded to judicial custody.
