Theatre stampede case: Telangana HC grants interim bail to Allu Arjun
Hyderabad, Dec 13 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Telangana High Court on Friday granted interim bail to Tollywood actor Allu Arjun, minutes after a city court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days in the case relating to a stampede at a theatre during the premier show of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ that killed a woman.
The High Court gave interim bail for four weeks during the hearing of the quash petition filed by the actor. The court asked him to submit a personal bond of Rs 50,000 to the Jail Superintendent.
The pan-India actor received the respite even as the police were shifting him to Chanchalguda Jail from Nampally Criminal Court Complex.
It was immediately unclear when the actor would be released later tonight (Friday night) or if he would have to wait till Saturday.
For regular bail, Allu Arjun was asked to approach Nampally Court.
The High Court took up the hearing of the quash petition after a request made by Allu Arjun’s lawyers following his arrest earlier in the day.
The actor’s counsel S. Niranjan Reddy argued that the actor can’t be held responsible for the stampede. He also informed the court that the theatre management and producer had informed the police in advance about Allu Arjun’s visit.
Niranjan Reddy cited the case of the 2017 stampede at Vadodara Railway Station during actor Shah Rukh Khan’s train journey from Mumbai to Delhi to promote his movie ‘Raees’.
The Gujarat High Court had quashed the complaint filed against Shah Rukh Khan for the stampede, which had killed one person and injured several others. The Supreme Court later upheld the High Court order.
The Public Prosecutor told the court that Allu Arjun visited the theatre despite a request by police not to come in view of the possibility of a huge gathering. The court was informed that the actor reached the theatre in a rally.
The police, which arrested the National Award-winning actor from his residence in Hyderabad, produced him before a magistrate Nampally Criminal Court complex. He was named accused number 11 in the case.
The Ninth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate sent the actor to judicial custody till December 27.
Earlier, police recorded the statement of the actor at Chikkadpally Police Station. He was then taken to Gandhi Hospital for a medical check-up.
A woman died and her son was critically injured during the stampede at Sandhya Theatre during the premier show attended by Allu Arjun on December 4.
A police team took the national award-winning actor into custody from his house in Jubilee Hills, hours after his return from Delhi, where he attended the success meet of ‘Pushpa 2’.
Allu Arjun’s father, a well-known filmmaker Allu Arvind, actor brother Allu Sirish and other family members were present when he was arrested.
The police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Akanksh Yadav questioned Allu Arjun for nearly two hours in the light of the statements made by eye-witnesses.
Police had registered a case under sections 105 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 118(1) (Voluntarily causing hurt) r/w 3(5) BNS against Allu Arjun, his security team and the management of the theatre.
The case was registered at Chikkadpally Police Station on December 5 on a complaint by the deceased woman’s husband. The police arrested the theatre owner, general manager and security manager on December 8.
According to police there was no intimation from theatre management or the actor’s team that they would be visiting the theatre. The theatre management also did not make any additional provisions regarding security to manage the crowd.
