KARUR: A special team of Karur district police arrested TVK Karur West district secretary V P Mathiyazhagan on Monday in connection with the death of 41 people in a stampede during party president Vijay’s campaign on Saturday. Sources said a team headed by additional superintendent of police N Premanandhan, who is also the investigation officer in the case, nabbed Mathiyazhagan from Gujiliyamparai in Dindigul district.
Mathiyazhagan was named as the first accused, along with TVK general secretary Bussy N Anand, deputy general secretary G R Nirmal Kumar, and a few other functionaries. The others are yet to be arrested.
Police sources told TNIE that Mathiyazhagan on Monday night would be interrogated before being produced in court on Tuesday. According to the FIR registered by Karur Town police, the functionaries have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for various offenses, including Culpable homicide not amounting to murder (105), Attempt to commit culpable homicide (110), acts endangering human life (125b) and disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant (223) of BNS read with Section 3 of TNPPDL Act.
The accused are alleged to have knowingly caused delay, neglected basic safety protocols, and failed to provide adequate facilities, factors which, according to authorities, directly contributed to the deaths of 41 people, including women and children, and injuries to many more.
‘Vijay deliberately came late’
According to the FIR filed by Karur Town police, TVK chief Vijay ‘deliberately’ arrived late and remained inside his campaign bus for an extended period, leading to overcrowding and restlessness among the gathered crowd. The absence of proper crowd control measures, failure to follow police instructions, and inadequate arrangements for water and medical assistance reportedly worsened the situation.