NEW DELHI: The actor-turned-politician Vijay was interrogated for six hours on Monday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the ongoing Karur stampede case, with sources confirming that no clean chit has been issued to him so far.
The tragic incident claimed 41 lives last September.
"The decision on attributing the role of individuals as accused or witness in the chargesheet will be taken only after a thorough analysis of the statements of all persons involved in the process of giving clearance and managing the rally," said a senior CBI officer.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief was asked, "What happened on that day and how he got delayed. He was also asked to explain whether he was forced to delay the event or whether it was his call to get the event delayed, or whether he was stuck somewhere despite knowing that there was a political gathering."
He arrived at the agency headquarters on Lodhi Road at around 10:20 am and left at about 5 pm, the agency official said.
Present outside the CBI headquarters, TVK party leader C T Nirmal Kumar, speaking to media persons, said that they are cooperating in the probe.
"Lots of rumours are being spread around that are not true. We all know what happened in Karur. MPs from Delhi had gone to Karur; even the Tamil Nadu BJP president has said what exactly happened in Karur. We are cooperating with the investigating agencies," he said.
Kumar also said that Vijay has not been called again for the probe.
Earlier, Vijay was also grilled for six hours at the CBI headquarters on January 12.
He was asked to come again on January 13, but the actor sought another date due to Pongal.
Soon after the stampede, the Tamil Nadu police had blamed Vijay's alleged inordinate delay in arriving at the venue for triggering the chaos, stating that the prolonged wait had led to the swelling of the crowd.
The alleged six-hour delay led to crowds growing more impatient and suffering heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Vijay, however, had denied the charges, calling them a "conspiracy" by the ruling DMK, and blamed the police for poor crowd management.
The CBI took over the case from an SIT appointed by the Tamil Nadu government following a Supreme Court order in October.
The agency has been gathering evidence relating to the stampede. Earlier, a Supreme Court bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and N V Anjaria had set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by retired judge Justice Ajay Rastogi to monitor the probe into the stampede.
The Bench had said the issue has a bearing on the fundamental rights of citizens and the incident has shaken the national conscience, adding that it requires fair and impartial investigation.