Karur stampede: Crowd swelled due to Vijay’s delayed arrival, says TN Police chief; people left without food, water | Chennai News
NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu DGP G Venkataraman on Sunday said the stampede at Vijay’s public rally in Karur was triggered by the actor-politician’s delayed arrival. He noted that the crowd, which had swelled at the venue, was left waiting for hours in the scorching sun without adequate food and water, resulting in 39 deaths in the tragic incident.He further said there was a crowd surge after the official Twitter handle of Vijay’s TVK party mentioned that he would arrive at the meeting venue by 12 noon. “Permission (for the meeting) was sought for between 3 pm-10pm. The TVK Twitter account said he will come at 12 and crowd started coming in from 11am. He came at 7.40pm. The people lacked sufficient food water under the hot sun.” “Our intention is not to blame anyone, but we are just stating the facts,” the Head of Police Force added.Further, Vijay was accorded welcome at one point and a big crowd followed him and he was ushered in safely to the venue by the police. “He also lauded the police, the crowd kept swelling,” he said.Venkataraman said that while organisers had estimated a turnout of around 10,000, nearly 27,000 people gathered at the venue to catch a glimpse of the actor.He indicated police protection was given anticipating about 20,000.Asked if there were “only 500” police personnel on bandobast duty, he said the meeting venue was a public road and more police cover would have meant people would not have sufficient space.Two days earlier, a meeting of a “big party” — apparently referring to the AIADMK — was held at the same venue, he noted.When asked if a “security lapse” contributed to the tragedy, he said the government has already announced a Commission of Inquiry to determine the cause.He stressed that organisers had been clearly instructed about crowd management, adding that police deployment was meant only as “extra help” and could not be scaled up in anticipation of such an unexpected surge.Currently, ADGP (Law and Order) Davidson Devasirvatham, three Inspector Generals of Police, two DIGs, 10 SPs, and around 2,000 police personnel have been sent to Karur, he added.(With inputs from agencies)
