Indian actor arrested after fan dies in crowd crush

Police in India have arrested popular Telugu actor Allu Arjun in connection with a crush at the premiere of his latest film earlier this month.

A 39-year-old woman was killed and her son critically injured in the crush that took place during the screening of Pushpa 2 in the southern city of Hyderabad on 4 December.

Chaos broke out when the actor made a surprise appearance at the Sandhya Theatre at the end of the screening.

Police had filed a case against the actor, his security team and the theatre’s management staff on the charges of culpable homicide.

The owner and two employees of the theatre have already been arrested.

On Friday, the police arrived at the actor’s home and took him into custody, following which he was produced in a local court.

Accidents involving large crowds are often reported in India, where lax safety measures and crowd management have led to deaths in the past. But it is unusual for big celebrities to be arrested in cases like these.

Pushpa 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2021 blockbuster Pushpa: The Rise, released in theatres earlier this month

Police say Allu Arjun arrived at the theatre at 9.30pm IST using the main entrance.

“There was no intimation from the side of the theatre management or the actor’s team that they will be visiting the theatre,” Hyderabad police chief CV Anand said.

The actor’s team also did not have a separate entry or exit and no additional provisions were made to manage the crowd. “His personal security team started pushing the public which further aggravated the situation as there was already a huge gathering at the theatre,” a police statement said.

As chaos broke out, a 39-year-old woman and her nine-year-old son were pulled out of the crowd as they felt “suffocated”, police said.

They were immediately given emergency first aid, before being taken to hospital for further care.

While the woman died at the hospital, her son was shifted to a different hospital where he is still undergoing treatment.

The actor has not yet commented on the police’s allegations.

But shortly after the incident, he took to X, formerly Twitter, saying that he was “heartbroken by the tragic incident”.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to the grieving family during this unimaginably difficult time. I want to assure them they are not alone in this pain and will meet the family personally,” he wrote.

He later announced assistance of 2.5m rupees ($29,480; £23,346) for the woman’s family and promised to take care of the medical expenses for her son.

Mythri Movie Makers, the studio behind the film, also released a statement saying, “We are committed to standing by them and extending all possible support during this difficult time.”

Arjun had approached the court earlier this week to quash the police complaint against him but the case hasn’t been heard yet.