Actor Allu Arjun was granted regular bail on Friday by a Nampally court in connection with the tragic stampede during the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule at Sandhya Theatre last month. The incident claimed the life of a 35-year-old woman and left her nine-year-old son hospitalized due to asphyxiation.
Arjun was initially arrested on December 13 but released a day later after the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks, set to expire on January 10. On Friday, the court directed Arjun to furnish two sureties of ₹50,000 each and appear before the investigating officer on Sunday.
The stampede occurred on December 4, when a massive crowd gathered to see Arjun and music director Devi Sri Prasad. Police suspect the boy suffered brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. A case was filed against Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under culpable homicide and grievous hurt charges.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy criticized Arjun in the Assembly for visiting the theatre without police approval. Arjun denied the allegations, calling them “humiliating” and apologizing for the tragedy. “Permission was sought from the theatre management, and the police cleared the way,” he said.
Arjun, along with his father Allu Arvind and the film’s director, offered financial compensation totaling ₹2.3 crore to the victim’s family. The boy’s father later expressed willingness to withdraw the case. Authorities emphasized the shared responsibility of celebrities and law enforcement in crowd control.