HYDERABAD: Any filmmaker would have been elated if he had been handed a script with the twists and turns that Friday threw up for Allu Arjun, except perhaps the Pushpa-2: The Rule actor himself.
He was arrested from his Jubilee Hills residence in the afternoon and sent to Gandhi Hospital for a medical examination. A lower court ordered him to be jailed, and he was sent to Chanchalguda jail, even as the High Court granted him interim bail. However, he had to spend the night in jail due to “technical reasons.”
When the police went to his residence at 11.45 am, the actor questioned them how they could enter his bedroom and why they were not giving him time to even change.
When his queries were brushed aside, Arjun kissed and patted his wife Sneha Reddy and encouraged her to be brave.
Accompanied by his father and film producer Allu Arvind, he was taken to Chikkadapally police station at 1 pm. The police later sent him to Gandhi Hospital for health checks.
He was produced before the Nampally court at 3 pm. The Nampally court remanded him to 14 days judicial custody and he was shifted to the Chanchalguda jail.
Almost parallelly, the Telangana High Court, hearing his petition seeking quashing of the case against him, granted interim bail to Arjun for four weeks.
Actor Arjun was aware of the risks, says the prosecution
Drawing parallels to a similar incident involving Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, Niranjan Reddy pointed out that the Supreme Court had granted Khan relief in a case where a stampede occurred during a promotional event.
The advocate contended that the case against Arjun was being sensationalised. “This (arrest) is just for sensationalism. The remand report doesn’t say anything about knowledge of possible death,” he said.
The prosecution argued that Arjun and other accused were aware of the risks associated and that their negligence contributed to the tragedy.
However, the court rejected these claims, citing the absence of evidence that Arjun was warned against attending the event. The prosecution also alleged inadequate crowd control measures, compounded by Arjun’s presence, led to the stampede.
The court dismissed these, noting that police had acknowledged receiving prior notification about Arjun’s attendance