KARUR: The stampede during TVK’s election campaign in Karur on Saturday which claimed 40 lives was triggered by overcrowding, heat stress and a sudden surge of people eager to see actor-politician Vjiay, who was delayed in arriving at the venue by over three hours, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) S Davidson Devasirvatham told media persons on Sunday.
Briefing media persons at the district collectorate, the ADGP said the Lighthouse roundabout in Karur was the campaign organisers' first preference for a venue. However, due to its layout, it was already considered a ‘high-risk spot’, so permission was not given.
“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 official said, adding that the organisers had rejected suggestions to shift the meeting to an alternative, approved space.
Further, the ADGP said that crowd density and police deployment were assessed scientifically. “For a low-risk crowd, one policeman is assigned for 250-300 people; for moderate, 100-150; and for high-risk, one for 50. For Karur, we deployed 500 personnel, including 3 ADSPs, 4 DSPs, 17 inspectors and 58 sub-inspectors. The Central Zone IG was also stationed here,” he added.
Despite the deployment, the crowd swelled as Vijay’s convoy was delayed by over three hours, Devasirvatham said. When the convoy neared the venue around 6 pm, the actor briefly stayed inside the vehicle, which triggered restlessness among the crowd, he added. “As he could not be seen for nearly 10 minutes, people surged forward from both sides, creating the crush,” the ADGP explained.
Further, Devasirvatham said that the Karur town DSP had urged organisers to stop the leader’s caravan 50 metres ahead of the venue due to the overwhelming crowd, but the latter insisted on proceeding to the roundabout for better media coverage.
On rumours of stone-pelting, the police official said no such violence was reported in Karur.
“Despite the strong police deployment, crowd cooperation was critical. No matter the force size, when 10,000 to 20,000 people push against the police, it becomes uncontrollable,” ADGP Devasirvatham said, adding that detailed findings would emerge after examining video footage and witness accounts.
Aruna Jagadeesan commission visits horror spot
Karur: Former judge Aruna Jagadeesan, who heads the one-member commission set up by the government to probe the Velusamypuram stampede, visited the spot on Sunday and held inquiries with eyewitnesses, victims, their families, hospital staff and officials, the injured and doctors. “We should do the needful to ensure that these incidents should not be repeated,” Jagadeesan told reporters.