Allu Arjun walks out of Hyderabad prison after spending night, says woman’s death was 'purely accidental'

Hyderabad: Tollywood's popular actor Allu Arjun, who had to spend a night in prison due to a delay in completing bail formalities, walked out of Chanchalguda jail on Saturday morning.

The Chikkadapally police arrested him on Friday in connection with the December 4 stampede incident during the Pushpa 2 premiere show, which resulted in a woman's death. On Friday evening, the Telangana High Court granted an interim bail to him. However, as a lower court had ordered 14 days remand, he was moved to Chanchalguda prison, from where he was released on Saturday morning.

Arjun's lawyers said that they would take legal action against the jail authorities for the delay in completing the formalities, due to which the actor had to spend a night in jail, even though the high court had granted interim bail. They called it 'illegal detention.'

After walking out of the jail, Arjun said that the death incident has no direct connection with him as he was inside the theatre watching the movie with his family, and the accident happened outside. "It was purely accidental and unintentional," he added.

Arjun also said he would support the family in all possible ways.

It was an emotional reunion of Arjun's family members after he returned from the prison. Arjun's residence in Jubilee Hills had witnessed a steady flow of high-profile visitors from the film fraternity since Saturday morning. Many from the film industry—actors, producers, technicians, and directors—had visited Allu Arjun to extend solidarity to him.

“We are extremely sorry for the family. I will personally be there to help them in whatever way possible. I was inside the theatre watching a movie with my family, and the accident happened outside. It has no direct connection with me. It was purely accidental and unintentional. I have been going to the same theatre for the last 20 years, and I have been to the same place more than 30 times. There has never been an accident like this before. I should reserve my comments because I don’t want to say anything that will tamper with the case,” Arjun told reporters at his residence on Saturday morning.

He also said as a law-abiding citizen he would cooperate with the ongoing investigation. He evaded queries from journalists if he was targeted given the way he had to spend a night in the prison.

'Illegal detention'

Allu Arjun's lawyer, K Ashok Reddy, called the actor's spending the night in the Chanchalguda prison 'illegal detention' by the jail authorities and said they would take legal action.

"Despite receiving the order copy, they did not release him. You should question the government and department why the actor was not released. The High Court order was very specific that forthwith, the moment you receive the order, you have to release the actor. Despite that, they have not released. They have to answer. We have to take further steps. We will take whatever is legally permissible,” said Ashok Reddy outside Chanchalguda prison.

Allu Arjun's legal team stated that the jail authorities received the order without any delay. They submitted a certified copy of the High Court order, and the messenger of the High Court also provided a copy to the authorities.