Tamil Nadu: Vijay’s party blames DMK ‘conspiracy’ for Karur stampede, seeks probe by SIT or CBI
Chennai: Actor-politician Vijay’s party, Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), has alleged a DMK-led conspiracy behind the stampede at its rally in Karur that killed 40 people and left nearly 100 injured on Saturday, media reports said.
TVK’s legal wing coordinator, Arivazhagan, told NDTV that the party has moved the Madras High Court, urging it to either constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“There was a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy in the incident at Karur, so we requested the honorable high court to investigate the matter independently, not by a state agency,” he said. “The court has to constitute a special investigation team, or they have to transfer the case from Tamil Nadu police to CBI.”
Arivazhagan also rejected the state government’s contention that TVK had violated safety guidelines at the rally.
“We did not violate any conditions imposed by the police, we did not,” he said, adding that TVK had held several other events in Madurai, Trichy, Ariyalur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Namakkal without incident.
The lawyer claimed TVK had “reliable information from the local people” and CCTV footage pointing to a “criminal conspiracy by some ruling party functionaries in Karur district.”
The DMK has refrained from responding directly to the allegation.
“We don’t want to politicise this. The law will take its course. Those who level such allegations should first introspect how their party leadership behaved,” party spokesperson Dr Syed Hafeezullah told NDTV.
While the venue had a capacity of 10,000, about 27,000 people gathered, waiting since noon for Vijay to arrive.
They claimed the actor-politician reached only at 7 pm, and alleged that TVK leaders had delayed proceedings deliberately to allow the crowd to swell.
Arivazhagan dismissed this claim, insisting the delay was due to traffic and not intentional.
The Tamil Nadu government has announced a judicial inquiry led by a retired High Court judge.
Police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among other charges, against TVK’s general secretary N Anand, joint general secretary Nirmal Kumar, and Karur West district secretary VP Mathiyazhagan.
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