Protesters storm, vandalise Allu Arjun’s house over stampede death

A group of people stormed top Telugu actor Allu Arjun’s residence in Hyderabad and vandalised flower pots and other things over the Sandhya Theatre stampede in which a woman lost her life.

The stampede took place earlier this month on the occasion of the screening of the actor's latest film 'Pushpa-2'. Her eight-year-old son is still in coma at a city hospital.

The protesters, claiming to be members of Osmania University Joint Action Committee, climbed over the property’s boundary wall and pelted stones at the actor’s house. They shouted slogans against the actor and sought justice to the woman.

The protesters were later removed by the police.

According to police, Arjun was not at home when the incident took place. His father and veteran producer Allu Aravind said the law will take its own course.

"You have seen what happened outside our house. But, this is time for us to observe restraint. We should not react to all this at present. Police came and took them away. They filed a case. Police are ready to take away if anyone comes here to cause any trouble. No one should encourage this type of incidents. We will not react to this. Law will take its own course," he said.

Earlier in the day, Telangana DGP Jitender on Sunday said film personalities should understand that the safety and security of citizens are important and they should conduct themselves accordingly. 

"They are heroes in films. But, on the ground, they should understand the problems of society. The promotion of a film is not as important as the safety of the citizens. Something wrong has happened. We all should understand that such incidents are not good for the safety and security of the citizens," he told reporters.

The stampede took place when Arjun arrived at the theatre despite police permission reportedly being denied. The actor was arrested in connection with the case and the high court granted him interim bail.

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday said the theatre management had submitted a letter to the police on December 2 seeking security for the visit of top actors and others on December 4. However, the police rejected the application, citing difficulties in crowd management and the fact that the theatre had only one entry and exit.

Arjun, however, refuted the claim and said nothing of that sort of information had been given to him.

"Had there not been permission, they would have told us to return and I am a law-abiding citizen. I would've followed that. Nothing of that sort of information was given to me. I was following as per their guidance and it was not a roadshow. There was no procession. It was just a crowd a few meters away from the theatre,” he said at a press conference.