Karur Stampede : Crowd Gathered At 11 AM, Vijay Came At 7 PM : FIR

29th September 2025 at 4:42 PM

2 minutes read

A 'deliberate display of political power' by actor and TVK chief Vijay led to the death of 41 people at the stampede in Tamil Nadu's Karur Sunday evening, the police said in a FIR.

Karur : A ‘deliberate display of political power’ by actor and TVK chief Vijay led to the death of 41 people at the stampede in Tamil Nadu’s Karur Sunday evening, the police said in a FIR. According to the cops Vijay was scheduled to speak at noon, but he turned up only at 7 pm – four hours after they were told he would reach – having delayed his arrival to build ‘unnecessary expectations’.

The bus carrying Vijay, the cops said, made multiple unscheduled stops, a de facto roadshow for which no permission was sought, and TVK leaders, including the actor and senior figure N ‘Bussy’ Anand, an ex-Puducherry MLA, ignored warnings about the lack of food, water, and facilities for the crowd. The campaign bus’ frequent, and unplanned, stops also disrupted traffic, the police said.

The stampede has led to a political row between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which will make its electoral debut in next year’s Assembly election. The TVK has blamed the stampede on a ‘conspiracy’ orchestrated by the DMK. A petition had been filed asking the Madras High Court to either set up a special team to investigate the stampede or transfer the case to the CBI, a federal agency.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin made an appeal for peace and calm this morning. In a video statement on X, he cautioned people against believing rumours. “Do not spread defamation and rumours on social media about Karur… everyone must behave responsibly. Vijay’s TVK has also hit out at the police over its handling of the stampede. Party leader Aadhav Arjun filed a petition in the Madras High Court, repeating allegations of a ‘political conspiracy by the DMK’ and demanding the inquiry be handed to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

He claimed the electricity supply was turned off in the middle of VIjay’s speech, creating panic that “anti-social elements (which had) infiltrated the crowd” exploited by throwing stones. He also claimed ambulances were driven into the crowd and the police resorted to a lathi charge, which triggered chaos. On Sunday night, in the hours immediately after the stampede, the police rejected claims it had failed to control the crowd despite 500 personnel having been deployed to the rally site.