TVK vs DMK: Vijay’s Party Blames Police for Karur Stampede, Govt Denies Responsibility

The FIR Filed against TVK Leaders States Delayed Entry and Prolonged Stay of Vijay inside the Vehicle as a Major Cause of the Stampede.

The Karur stampede tragedy has turned into a political flashpoint. Actor-turned-politician Vijay's party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), alleges that a police lathi charge led to the chaos, while the ruling party DMK counters that the accusations are baseless and politically motivated. 

 An official probe is now underway about the stampede that killed 41 people in Tamil Nadu's Karur district last weekend.

TVK vs DMK Blamegame

In the stampede case, TVK district secretary N Sathish Kumar filed a petition for anticipatory bail, which the high court also denied. The judge questioned the party's inability to manage the audience, pointing out the cadres' disruptive conduct, such as the looting and destruction of public property during party founder Vijay's roadshow.

TVK party leaders blamed the police for handling the situation improperly: "When supporters were waiting to see their leader, Vijay, some from the crowd threw slippers. Without warning, the cops started lathi-charging people which led to the stampede”, in the court.

Led by MK Stalin, the DMK government has called the accusation made by Vijay's party "baseless" and stated that “there is no proof to support it.”

The TVK leaders have previously blamed the stampede on a 'conspiracy' by the DMK. "There was a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy in the incident at Karur..." the lawyer, Arivazhagan, declared, trashing the DMK's claim that the “TVK violated crowd safety guidelines.”

"We didn't violate conditions imposed by the police," he said, pointing to rallies at Madurai, Trichy, Ariyalur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Namakkal that were held without chaos.

FIR Blames Vijay’s Delay

According to the police, “Vijay remained inside his campaign vehicle at Velusamypuram, the venue where the stampede occurred, for an extended period, leading to overcrowding and restlessness among those gathered.”

“The situation went out of control as the crowd surged forward for a closer glimpse of Vijay,” the police told PTI, adding that the “narrow venue hardly afforded space for so many people”.

“Many in the crowd had climbed over steel sheds and trees to get a better view. When these collapsed, they fell on those below, resulting in the stampede, in which people died due to suffocation and crush injuries,” the FIR mentioned further.

Police said they “resorted to a lathi charge in a bid to restore order”, adding, “Many who fainted at the venue were rushed to the Karur government hospital”.

A Special Investigation Team, or SIT, led by IPS officer Asra Garg, has been formed by the court to look into the stampede.

Vijay's party has already promised Rs 2 lakh in compensation for the injured and Rs 20 lakh for the relatives of the victims. On September 27, the Tamil superstar released a statement saying, "My heart is shattered at this tragedy."