Pushpa 2 stampede: Allu Arjun calls death ‘unfortunate,’ cites misunderstandings

He was responding to accusations made by Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy and AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in the Assembly.

Hyderabad: Actor Allu Arjun on Saturday, September 21, briefed the media stating the stampede and subsequent death of 35-year-old Revathi that occurred during the stampede in Sandhya Theatre on December 2 were unfortunate and claimed there have been several misunderstandings surrounding the incident.

He was responding to accusations made by Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy and AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi who alleged that the actor continued watching the movie till the end while the stampede took place outside the theatre.

Calling the incident “unfortunate”, Allu Arjun said that no one should be blamed. Maintaining he has no ill will against any political leader or department, the actor alleged character assassination and repeated attempts to tarnish his image that he built through 20 years of hard work.

He alleged a lot of misinformation floating around as well as false allegations, miscommunication, and misquotation directed at him.

“I left the theatre as soon as the manager informed me about the overcrowding outside. I left my family—my wife and two kids—inside to watch the film until the end. I only learned about the woman’s death and her son’s hospitalisation the following morning,” he said.

He refuted Telangana CM Revanth Reddy’s allegations that no police permission was given for the event. He said that he was not approached by any police officer to leave the theatre once the crowd went out of control.

“Had I known about the incident that night, would I have left my family in the theatre?” he asked.

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He said that claims of him conducting a road show were false. “I waved at the crowd near the entrance of the theatre so that people could start moving from there, a gesture which any celebrity or a leader would be well aware of,” Allu Arjun told media.

He said that he has been visiting Sandhya Theatre for about 20 years and no such incident ever occurred. “It is very unfortunate this has happened,” he repeated.

The actor said he did not visit Sri Teja at the hospital as he was strongly advised by his legal team against it. “A case was filed against me. I was legally restricted to visit Sri Teja. But I made sure that my father, my producers, my director, co-actors visited the child’s family to convey my full support at this moment of grief,” Allu Arjun said. The actor also said that he is well aware of the child’s medical condition and gets hourly updates.

“For the last 15 days, I have confined myself to my house. I have cancelled all public functions and programmes,” he said.

The actor refused to answer any questions citing legal implications.