Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Tuesday hit out at Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for police action against Telugu superstar Allu Arjun. Annamalai said that Reddy is trying to compete regarding who is the superstar in Telangana. "He is trying to show he is a bigger superstar than Allu Arjun...right now also he is acting in Congress, he is the main actor in Telangana," the BJP leader said.
Annamalai said that some of the people who attacked Allu Arjun's residence came from Reddy's own constituency. He suggested that police action against was "politically motivated". "Victimising and bullying someone is wrong. Did Allu Arjun have an intention or motive that someone will die? It should not have happened but victimising and bullying are not right."
Allu Arjun is facing a probe in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede during the screening of 'Pushpa-2' on December 4. He was grilled by police for over three hours on Tuesday. A police team led by Central Zone DCP Akshansh Yadav questioned the actor. The actor was issued a notice on December 23 to appear before the police at 11 AM today.
The notice to Allu Arjun on December 23 came a day after police commissioner C V Anand released a video showing the sequence of events at the theatre.
A 35-year-old woman died during the stampede at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad on December 4 and her eight-year-old son was hospitalised.
Following the incident, the city police registered a case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint lodged by the deceased woman's family.
Allu Arjun, named as accused no 11, was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13. The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from the prison on December 14.
On Sunday evening, six people, claiming to be members of Osmania University - Joint Action Committee (OU-JAC) damaged flower pots and threw tomatoes at Arjun's residence. BJP Lok Sabha member DK Aruna claimed that four of those who indulged in vandalism belong to Kodangal. "This is leading to suspicion whether it was a Congress conspiracy," she said.
Meanwhile, the producers of 'Pushpa-2' on Monday extended a financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the family of the woman who died in the stampede.