Kochi: Police have booked Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and Tamil Superstar Vijay accusing him of deliberately delaying his arrival at Karur that led to a stampede that claimed 41 lives on Sunday night, NDTV reports said.
Vijay delayed over four hours to reach the spot to create a huge crowd to show his might in Tamil politics leading to the tragedy that included 18 women and 10 children.
The FIR said the rally was to start at 9 am and by 11 am a large crowd had gathered. According to the cops Vijay was scheduled to speak at noon, but he turned up only at 7 pm.
Vijay’s caravan made multiple unscheduled stops for which he had not obtained permission.
TVK supporters breached police barriers and scaled on structures with weak roofs.
The stampede has led to a political row between the ruling DMK and Vijay’s TVK ahead of Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu next year.
The TVK has moved the Madras High Court seeking to set up a special investigation team or order a CBI probe. TVK has also hit out at the police over its handling of the stampede. TVK accused the DMK of conspiring to paint Vijay party badly. The power supply was turned off in the middle of VIjay’s speech. The DMK government paid Rs 10 lakh to kin of the deceased, Vijay’s party paid Rs 20 lakh each while BJP paid Rs 2 lakh.
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