Political leaders across parties today condemned the arrest of actor Allu Arjun in connection with the Sandhya theatre stampede death incident.
Union minister Bandi Sanjay, former BRS minister Harish Rao and MLA Raja Singh were among those who reacted on the manner in which Arjun was arrested.
Rao asked who had given the permission for the benefit shows of Arjun's
Pushpa 2, and who had screened the film without taking precautionary measures.
Rao also said that the loss of the life of a woman in the stampede while going for the movie was saddening, and that the real reasons for the tragedy were the State's rulers.
Rao took the opportunity to criticise the Congress on other issues, too. He said that Sai Reddy, the former sarpanch of Kondareddypalli, had committed suicide by writing a letter stating that he was dying due to the harassment of CM Revanth Reddy's brothers. Rao asked the State government why the CM's brothers were not arrested in the case.
The former minister also recalled that Surender Reddy, a farmer, had committed suicide at the Medchal agriculture office due to non-waiver of his crop loan, and asked why Revanth Reddy was not arrested in the issue.
"And who should be arrested for killing farmers in the last one year's rule of the Congress? 49 students have died due to food poisoning - who should be arrested for this? In the name of pharma city, the lives of the Lagacherla tribals have been shattered - who should be arrested for it?" he asked.
Firebrand BJP MLA Raja Singh too blamed the "failure" of the police department for the tragic stampede at the theatre. He said that Arjun was a National Award winning icon who had brought immense respect to the Telugu States with his acting and achievements, and that it was unfair to hold the actor directly responsible for the stampede and arrest him. Singh asked the Congress government to introspect on that.
Bandi Sanjay tweeted his displeasure over the way the police handled the arrest of the actor. He said that it was shameful of the police to take Arjun directly from his bedroom without even giving him time to change his clothes. He asked if that was the courtesy given by the police to a star hero who had brought world-class recognition to Indian cinema. He too added that it was very unfortunate that a woman had died in the stampede at the theatre, and that the Congress government's failure to control the huge crowd was visible at the theatre.