The Sandhya Theatre stampede, which claimed a woman’s life and left her son critically injured, has escalated into a full-blown political firestorm. Allu Arjun stands accused by Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and Akbaruddin Owaisi of mishandling the chaos during the Pushpa 2: The Rule premiere. In response, the actor has fired back, saying, “It feels like an intentional attempt to assassinate my character.”

Reddy alleged that despite police permission being denied, the actor visited the theatre where Pushpa 2 was screened on December 4. Even after the death of a woman in a stampede, the actor did not leave the cinema hall, prompting the police to force him out, the CM alleged.

Reacting to the allegation, the actor said it was not true and, in fact, the police were clearing the way for him and he reached the venue under their directions. “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,” he said. 

----------------------------------------

Allu Arjun denied the allegations levelled against him during a discussion in the state assembly over the death of a woman, who was killed during a stampede-like situation at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad on December 4. The actor said that it was nothing but demeaning and an attempt at his “character assassination”.

Arjun said, “I am not here to blame anybody, or any political party. There is a lot of miscommunication, misinformation and wrong allegations. I am feeling extremely humiliated by the character assassination. I have been here for 20 years and I have earned this respect and credibility. It has been sabotaged in one day.”

He expressed sorrow over the incident and said it was purely an “unfortunate accident”. He added, “No one is at fault here. Despite everyone’s good intentions, an unexpected tragedy occurred. I am getting hourly updates about how the kid is doing. He is progressing. The only good thing is that the boy is getting better,” he said about the eight-year-old boy, Sri Tej, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital after sustaining severe injuries in the incident.

After Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy accused Arjun of going to the theatre during the screening of his latest release, Pushpa 2: The Rule, without obtaining police permission and organizing a roadshow while heading to the theatre, he denied the charges: “I strictly followed the police instructions and did not organize any procession. My car came to a halt a few yards before the theatre due to the crowd and I had to step out of the car to wave at the crowds only to ease the situation.”