Makers of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa booked for violating COVID-19 protocols

The makers of Allu Arjun's upcoming film Pushpa: The Rise are accused of flouting safety norms while organizing the film's pre-release event in Hyderabad. According to reports, the makers were only permitted to gather around 5,000 people for the film’s grand pre-release event, which was held at the Telangana State Special Police Battalion grounds in Yousufguda on Sunday. However, the cops have alleged that the organisers distributed over 15,000 passes to the show, flaunting safety protocols during the pandemic.

“It was not like people came voluntarily, everyone who was in and around the premises was holding passes, which means they sold passes beyond granted permission. The crowd swelled and behaved in an unruly manner causing threat and endangered human life due to rash and negligent acts by the organisers,”Inspector S Rajasekhar Reddy told The Hindu, accusing the makers of misleading the police force and risking a stampede-like situation.The case has been filed under various sections of IPC on the counts of causing a nuisance, unlawful assembly and endangering the lives of others. The first part of the two-part crime drama is set to open in cinemas on December 17.Helmed by Sukumar, Pushpa also features Sunil and Anasuya Bharadwaj in important roles. The multi-starrer, multi-lingual movie will be released in five languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi.