Akbaruddin Owaisi attacks Allu Arjun in Telangana Assembly

AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi lashed out at Telugu superstar Allu Arjun for his “insensitive” behaviour and “lack of responsibility” following the stampede at the premiere of his blockbuster film ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ in Hyderabad. Speaking in the Telangana Assembly, Owaisi alleged that despite the death of a woman in the stampede, Allu Arjun watched the movie, and even waved to his fans as he left.

Without taking the actor’s name, Owaisi said, “As per my information, when Allu Arjun was informed about the stampede and the death of a person, he said ‘now the movie will be hit’.”

The stampede took place on December 4 when a large number of fans thronged the Sandhya theatre to have a glimpse of Arjun and his Pushpa co-star Rashmika Mandhana. The incident left a 39-year-old woman dead, and her son grievously injured. Police said there were no arrangements by the theatre management to handle the crowd.

“Even after the stampede incident, he (Allu Arjun) watched the film and waved to the crowd from his car while going back. He does not even bother to check on them and the family. I also go for public meetings where thousands come, but I make sure no stampede-like incidents happen,” Owaisi said.

Allu Arjun was arrested from his residence amid high drama on December 13 in connection with the incident. A lower court sent the actor to judicial custody for 14 days, but he was granted interim bail by the Telangana High Court the same day. However, Arjun had to spend a night in jail due to a delay in the uploading of the bail order copies.

In his address in the Assembly, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy claimed that Allu Arjun attended the screening of Pushpa 2 despite police denying permission. “Before entering the theatre and while exiting, the actor stood through the sunroof of his car and waved to the crowds, leading to thousands of fans jostling to get a glimpse of him,” Reddy said.