Allu Arjun virtually appears before court in theatre stampede case (Lead)

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Hyderabad, Dec 27 (IANS) Actor Allu Arjun virtually appeared before the Nampally court through a video conference in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case.

Allu Arjun was arrested on December 13 in the case registered against him in connection with the December 4 stampede at Sandhya Theatre during the premier show of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, that had claimed the life of a woman.

He was produced before the Nampally court, which remanded him to 14-days’ judicial custody. His lawyers approached the High Court, which granted him interim bail the same day.

The actor, who is named accused number 11 in the case, was released from Chanchalguda Jail the next day.

As the 14-day judicial remand period ends on December 27, the actor had to present himself before the court for further proceedings.

Allu Arjun’s lawyers sought the court’s permission for his virtual appearance on the ground that his personal appearance in the court may lead to a chaotic situation at the court premises.

The court adjourned to January 10 hearing in the Sandhya Theatre stampede case. The same day it is likely to take up for hearing the matter related to Allu Arjun’s remand.

Meanwhile, the Nampally Court adjourned hearing on his regular bail petition to December 30.

Police sought time to file its counter to the bail petition. While granting the police time, the Nampally court adjourned the hearing to Monday.

While granting interim bail for four weeks on December 13, the High Court had asked Allu Arjun to move the trial court for regular bail.

A day after the stampede, the police booked the theatre management, Allu Arjun and his team for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. As part of the investigation into the police, the police interrogated Allu Arjun on December 24. He was questioned for three hours at Chikkadpally Police Station on the basis of a 10-minute video prepared by the police by compiling CCTV footage of the incident.

While speaking in the Assembly on December 21, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had come down heavily on Allu Arjun for visiting the theatre without police permission and conducting a ‘roadshow’ before entering the theatre and also one while leaving the theatre after the stampede.

Hours later, Allu Arjun addressed a press conference, terming the allegations as false. He also stated he was hurt over the character assassination.

The police had released the video on January 22 to debunk the actor’s claims about the incident.

–IANS

ms/rad

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