‘When 20,000 people push against police...’: ADGP details stampede at actor Vijay's rally in Karur

Karur stampede

A deadly stampede during an election campaign in Karur, Tamil Nadu which claimed 40 lives, was the result of severe overcrowding, extreme heat and a sudden surge of people after a three-hour delay in the arrival of actor-politician Vijay, a senior police official has confirmed.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) S Davidson Devasirvatham stated that the campaign organisers had initially chosen the Lighthouse roundabout for the Saturday event, a location police had already deemed a ‘high-risk spot’ and denied permission for.

“There is a petrol pump on one side and the Amaravathi river with a bridge on the other. It is a dense and difficult location to manage a crowd,” the ADGP told media persons on Sunday. He revealed that the organisers had rejected suggestions to move the meeting to an alternative, pre-approved venue.

The official detailed that police deployment was based on a scientific assessment of crowd risk. “For a high-risk [situation], one (policeman) for 50 (people),” he explained. For the Karur event, a force of 500 personnel was deployed.

However, the situation spiralled out of control as Vijay’s convoy was delayed by over three hours. As reported by The New Indian Express, Devasirvatham said that when the convoy finally neared the venue around 6 pm, the actor remained inside his vehicle for a brief period. “As he could not be seen for nearly 10 minutes, people surged forward from both sides, creating the crush,” the ADGP said, pinpointing the trigger for the fatal crush.

In a critical revelation, the police official stated that the Karur town DSP had urged organisers to halt the leader’s caravan 50 metres from the venue due to the overwhelming crowd. The organisers, however, insisted on proceeding to the roundabout for better media coverage.

The ADGP also dismissed rumours of stone-pelting, confirming that no such violence was reported. He emphasised the challenge of crowd control, stating, “No matter the force size, when 10,000 to 20,000 people push against the police, it becomes uncontrollable.”

Meanwhile, the one-member commission headed by former judge Aruna Jagadeesan, established by the government to probe the tragedy, visited the site on Sunday.

As per The New Indian Express, Jagadeesan held inquiries with eyewitnesses, victims, hospital staff and officials. “We should do the needful to ensure that these incidents should not be repeated,” she told reporters.