Toll in Karur stampede climbs, cops blame TVK

The death toll in the stampede at actor Vijay's political rally in southern Tamil Nadu rose to 40 on Sunday as a senior police officer ruled out intelligence failure and appeared to blame delays at the event for the tragedy that the Madras high court called a "shocking incident".

- Divya Chandrababu and Ayesha Arvind

The bodies of the 40 people - including 17 women and nine children - who died in the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stampede at Karur on Saturday were sent to their families as angry questions mounted about why a crowd higher the permitted size was allowed to assemble in the sweltering heat. Over a 100 were injured.

The first information report - filed at Karur town police station - charged TVK's Karur (north) district secretary Madhiazhagan, general secretary Bussy Anand, and joint general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 125 (endangering life of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Additional director general of police (law and order) Davidson Devasirvatham ruled out any intelligence failure and lapses. “Vijay also arrived three hours late to the venue in Karur after his rally in nearby Namakkal district,” he said.

About 500 police personnel were on the ground for TVK's Saturday rally while only 137 were deployed at former chief minister E Palaniswami's rally, as more people were expected for Vijay's campaign, said Devasirvatham.

The police on ground had asked organisers to stop Vijay's specially designed campaign bus at least 50 metres before the designated spot. “But, they insisted on parking where they had planned. And for 10 minutes, the leader (Vijay) didn't come out of the vehicle which made the crowd go restless because they wanted to see him,” Devasirvatham said.

Officials said the TVK sought permission for 10,000 people at the venue but the crowd had swelled to about 25,000. “They had not made ample arrangements such as drinking water and they didn't follow the conditions laid down by the police while giving permission," a senior official said, not wishing to be named.