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Vijay’s party demands CBI probe in stampede
Actor Vijay's party filed a PIL to transfer the Karur stampede probe to the CBI, alleging sabotage by the DMK government and police.
Actor and politician Vijay’s party, the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), on Monday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Madras High Court seeking transfer of the probe into the Karur stampede deaths from the Tamil Nadu police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The petition, filed by Aadhav Arjuna, general secretary of TVK’s election management unit, alleged that the DMK government and the Tamil Nadu police deliberately sabotaged the party’s rallies, culminating in the Karur tragedy.
The PIL accused State officials of denying suitable venues, cutting power during meetings, infiltrating gatherings with anti-social elements, even driving empty ambulances into crowds. It also named former TN minister and DMK leader V Senthil Balaji as one of those, who directly “engineered” the incident.
The state government and the police have denied this. Videos of the stampede show ambulances, presumably arriving to ferry the injured, being attacked by TVK cadres. And the police say the collapse of a shed where the generator used for the event was positioned caused a power cut.
But the plea claimed that the state police resorted to lathi-charge against peaceful attendees while DMK rallies in the past were handled much better and given “preferential treatment.” It also questioned the “unusually swift presence of DMK ministers at hospitals” and said the same “suggested prior knowledge.”
Vijay himself was yet to meet with the families of the victims or meet the injured till Monday evening. The loval police have filed a FIR against the TVK and some of its leaders, but not Vijay.
The petitioner contended that the incident was engineered to discredit TVK and that only a CBI probe could ensure a fair investigation.
The PIL alleged that while the deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was recently allowed by the State police to hold a rally at Karur’s Janatha Theatre without issues, its own requests for similar suitable venues were “deliberately denied.” Instead, officials compelled the party to conduct its rally at a narrow, unsafe road where the stampede occurred, the plea claimed.
TVK contended that this selective denial of venues showed a “political conspiracy by the DMK government, using officials and police as tools” to damage the party’s reputation, and held the ruling dispensation responsible for the tragedy.
TVK’s counsel, S Arivazhagan, visited the residence of Madras High Court judge, justice M Dhandapani on September 28, since the judge is presiding over a vacation bench at Madurai this week, and had sought an urgent hearing following the stampede.
At the time, the judge directed TVK to follow procedure by filing a petition and getting it numbered by the high court registry. Justice Dhandapani had said at the time that if the petition did get numbered in time, the high court could hear the matter on Monday.
However, the plea was not mentioned for urgent hearing by the TVK lawyers on Monday and is likely to be taken up for hearing in due course.
The stampede occurred on September 27, 2025, in Karur district, Tamil Nadu, during a political rally organised by TVK. The event, which drew a massive crowd at the designated venue, turned chaotic, resulting in the deaths of at least 41 people and injuring many others.
