Vijay's Delay, Crowd Swell, Lack Of Water & Food: What Caused Karur Stampede That Killed 39?

Tamil Nadu DGP G Venkatraman on Sunday said TVK chief Vijay’s delayed arrival for his rally led to a surge in the crowds at Karur, where 39 were killed in a stampede.

Calling the stampede an “unfortunate”

incident, Venkatraman said while the crowds swelled, people also lacked sufficient food and water waiting for Vijay under the hot sun.

He said permission was sought for 10,000 people, and the authorities had estimated a large turnout based on the actor-politician’s previous rallies. 

“Even though permission was sought for 10,000 people, we knew the crowd would exceed that,” Venkatraman told reporters.

The police chief said TVK’s social media handles announced Vijay’s arrival much earlier than his actual time of arrival, which led to a crowd surge. He said while TVK had requested smaller venues, officials allocated the same 1.2 lakh sq ft site that had recently hosted an AIADMK rally, projecting a higher turnout.

“Permission (for the meeting) was sought for between 3 pm and 10 pm. The TVK Twitter account said he will come at 12 and the crowd started coming in from 11 am. He came at 7.40 pm. The people lacked sufficient food and water under the hot sun. Our intention is not to blame anyone, but we are just stating the facts,” he said.

Earlier, officials said at least 50,000 people had gathered at the venue, far exceeding the expected 10,000. The sudden surge forced Vijay to halt his speech as several attendees, including party workers and children, fainted.

Asked if there were “only 500” police personnel on bandobast duty, Venkatraman said the meeting venue was a public road and more police cover would have meant people would not have sufficient space. He said the organisers were clearly told about crowd and related issues and the police are only “extra help”, and there cannot be added police presence anticipating such a surge in crowd.

Chief Minister MK Stalin described the incident as “worrying” on social media and said he had directed senior ministers to coordinate relief efforts.

Stalin has announced the formation of a commission of inquiry, headed by Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, to probe the stampede. Authorities said the commission will examine all aspects of the tragedy to ensure accountability and prevent similar incidents in the future.