Actor Allu Arjun was released from prison on the morning of Saturday, December 14, following the death of a woman at a stampede in Hyderabad's Sandhya theatre. The Telugu actor was arrested on Friday, a week after his sudden visit to the theatre at the premier of his film ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ resulted in a stampede.
Speaking to reporters outside the jail, the actor said, "I am a law-abiding citizen and will cooperate. I would like to once again express my condolences to the family. It was an unfortunate incident.”
The actor added that he has visited Sandhya theatre over 30 times and this never happened. “It was an unfortunate accident and I will be there to support the family.”
Several politicians including Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR), Union minister of state (MoS) Bandi Sanjay, BJP MLA Raja Singh came out in support of Arjun dubbing the arrest unethical. However, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy defended the arrest and said that the “law is same for everybody.” The CM also added that while everyone was discussing the actor, no one was focusing on the deceased woman.
Following Arjun’s arrest on Friday, Revathi’s husband Bhaskar said that he is withdrawing his case and does not hold the actor responsible for his wife’s demise.
The police had already arrested three persons in connection with the incident -- M Sandeep, a partner of Sandhya theatre, M Nagaraju, the theatre's manager, and Sri Gandhakam Vijay Chander, the lower balcony in-charge.