Telugu film producer D Suresh Babu told NDTV today that they are extremely satisfied with the meeting with Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, held amid the huge row over the stampede at a Hyderabad movie hall. The Chief Minister has squarely blamed actor Allu Arjun and his team for instigating it and said actors, along with the police, are accountable for public order.
“It was wholeheartedly satisfying meeting for everybody. It was one of the best interactions between the Chief Minister and everybody… everybody spoke their hearts off… They said whatever they wanted and he was also very positive,” he said in an exclusive interview with NDTV.
Eyewitnesses have made it clear that Allu Arjun’s team had unofficially made it clear that he would present at the Sandhya Theatre for the premiere of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rise’ on December 4. When the 3000-strong crowd started jostling for a glimpse of the actor, his bouncers had acted tough and escalated the crisis.
A woman died in the stampede and her eight-year-old was critically injured in the stampede that followed, which sparked one of the biggest rows and political blame game in recent months.
The Chief Minister and the police said that the Telugu superstar was present at the spot despite the denial of permission – allegations the actor has refuted.
At the meeting today with the representatives of the film industry, who included Allu Arjun’s father, producer Allu Arvind, the Chief Minister said crowd-control is as much the responsibility of celebrities as it is that of the police. For their public appearances, actors have to work with the police, he added, underscoring that there will be no compromise on law and order.
