As many as 41 people died, with over a hundred injured in a stampede at actor-politician Vijay's rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur on Saturday. And the blame game has already begun.
The police have stated that there has been no intelligence failure, adding that Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay arrived late for the rally and people had been waiting for him the entire day, as confirmed by the Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Davidson Devasirvatham.
TVK's Karur (north) District Secretary, Madhiazhagan, General Secretary Bussy Anand, and Joint General Secretary Nirmal Kaur, were charged in an FIR filed at the Karur town police station. They have been charged under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 125 (endangering life of others).
The DGP further said that around 500 police personnel were deployed on the ground for TVK's rally as a higher turnout was expected. They had asked the specially designed campaign bus of the TVK leader to stop at least 50 m before the designated position.
Devasirvatham added, "But they insisted on parking where they had planned. And, for ten minutes, the leader (Vijay) didn't come out of the vehicle, which made the crowd go restless because they wanted to see him."
It has been reported that TVK sought permission for 10,000 people, but the turnout reached around 25,000. Cops also stated that the political party didn't make proper arrangements for the people, such as a drinking water facility, and didn't even follow the instructions of the police while giving permission.
On the other hand, TVK Counsel, S Arivazhagan, alleged that there was a "political conspiracy" behind the incident. He also demanded an investigation by an independent agency or a court-monitored probe into the matter.
Accusing the Tamil Nadu Government and the State Police, Arivazhagan said that the autopsies of the victims had been conducted in a rush, and their bodies were not identified.
The dead bodies of the 41 people had been handed over to the families after the post-mortem on Sunday. While those injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karur, three of them are critical. One of the injured, N Senthilkannan, filed a petition seeking that TVK be barred from conducting further rallies and public meetings until all inquiries into the incident were complete.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased's kin, and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. He has appointed a committee to probe the stampede, led by Justice Aruna Jagadeesan.
On Sunday morning, Stalin also met the kin of the stampede victims. Stalin said, "In the history of our state, never has such a large number of people lost their lives in a program organised by a political party, and such a tragedy should never happen in the future either." When asked if Vijay would be arrested, he replied, "Once the truth is revealed, strict action will definitely be taken.
While Karnataka Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLC, Chalawadi Narayanaswamy, said that the stampede was very unfortunate, and was a failure of the Tamil Nadu Government and Vijay.
He said, "Vijay is new with no experience. On the other hand, the government also completely failed to control the crowd; therefore, it should have taken measures even before the event began."
Supriya Shrinate, Congress leader, said that the leaders were responsible for the stampede. She stated, "I am deeply saddened by what happened. There was such a huge stampede that more than 36 people died, and many were injured. My condolences to all the families who are suffering from this grief...As for stampedes, leaders are certainly responsible...But today is not the time for questions and answers, but to stand with the family of the deceased."