The Karur stampede Vijay rally on Saturday turned deadly, claiming at least 40 lives and injuring over 100 people in Tamil Nadu. Post-mortems were completed by Sunday, and families received the bodies, while three of the injured remain in critical condition at a local hospital.
Police have filed cases against TVK’s Karur (North) district secretary Madhiazhagan, general secretary Bussy Anand, and joint general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for culpable homicide and endangering human life.
According to Additional Director General of Police Davidson Devasirvatham, Vijay arrived nearly three hours late after a rally in Namakkal. Authorities had asked organisers to park his campaign bus 50 meters from the stage, but the directive was ignored. Vijay remained inside the vehicle for about ten minutes, leaving the crowd restless and ultimately triggering the stampede.
Although permission was granted for 10,000 people, the turnout reportedly swelled to around 25,000. Police said the organisers failed to provide drinking water and did not follow crowd-control measures. TVK’s counsel, S Arivazhagan, alleged a political conspiracy and demanded an independent probe.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin met families of the victims, announcing ₹10 lakh compensation for the deceased and ₹1 lakh for the injured. Opposition leaders, including Karnataka BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, have criticized both the government and Vijay for the mishap.
The Karur stampede Vijay rally has sparked a political blame game while authorities continue rescue and relief operations. Officials urge stricter crowd safety measures at all future political events to prevent such tragedies.
