Karur stampede: Vijay summoned by CBI for 2nd questioning on January 19

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has called actor-politician Vijay for a second round of questioning on January 19 in connection with the Karur stampede that killed 41 people in September last year.

Sources said the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president was questioned for about six hours at the agency’s headquarters on Monday. While investigators had asked him to return the following day, Vijay requested January 19, citing Pongal festivities.

During the questioning, Vijay is said to have maintained that he was not responsible for the crowd crush and claimed he left the venue immediately to prevent the situation from worsening. Investigators questioned him about the organisation of the rally and the events that preceded the stampede, including his late arrival at Velusamypuram and his decision to depart as conditions deteriorated, TNIE reported.

An official said Vijay was asked to outline the sequence of events that may have led to the tragedy and whether he was aware of the congestion at the venue and the expected size of the gathering.

Sources said the actor reached the tightly secured CBI office at around 11.30 am in a black Range Rover after flying to Delhi from Chennai on a chartered flight earlier in the day along with some TVK leaders.

The CBI has already examined several TVK office-bearers and former Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) S Davidson Devasirvatham as part of the investigation.

In the aftermath of the stampede, the Tamil Nadu police had alleged that Vijay’s delay in arriving at the venue contributed to the chaos, stating that the prolonged wait caused the crowd to swell, leading to impatience, dehydration and heat exhaustion. Vijay has denied the allegation, terming it a conspiracy by the ruling DMK and accusing the police of inadequate crowd control.

The agency took over the probe from a Special Investigation Team constituted by the Tamil Nadu government following a Supreme Court directive in October and has since been collecting evidence.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by retired judge Justice Ajay Rastogi to oversee the investigation, observing that the incident affected fundamental rights and had shocked the nation’s conscience, warranting a fair and unbiased probe.