Tamil Nadu govt releases videos of violation at Vijay’s TVK rally in Karur

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday released video clippings showing violation of norms at the rally of actor-politician Vijay in Karur and said the estimated crowd that attended had more than doubled, thus causing a lot of hardships.

The state government (in view of several claims being made on social media and media, raising questions over the stampede in TVK chief Vijay's rally) explained some of the basic facts on the stampede and related incidents by showing video recordings and also explained its views over such aspects.

A team of officers led by the official government spokesperson, senior IAS officer P Amudha, briefed reporters at the Secretariat in Fort St George here and video footages were screened.

Health Secretary P Senthilkumar and ADGP (Law and Order) S Davidson Devasirvatham also spoke.

The government has also warned against rumours, publishing content to instigate violence or to circulate rumours.

The government press briefing happened a little while after actor-politician Vijay released a video explaining his stand on the stampede, and also claimed that he did no wrong.

Video clippings showed violation of the norms by TVK cadres who were seen climbing on the roof of shops and houses in Namakkal and Karur.

The officials said TVK's preferred venue, Karur Roundtana, was rejected due to its proximity to a petrol bunk and a sewage canal.

Amudha clarified that the power supply was not suspended during the rally.

"The estimated crowd of 10,000 (by TVK) doubled; also crowd that followed actor Vijay took the turnout to 25,000 plus," she said.

ADGP Devasirvadham said police told Vijay to halt 50 metres ahead of the designated spot due to "overcrowding, but organisers did not oblige".

According to Amudha, the crowd surged towards the electricity generator enclosure, causing the focus lights to fail.

"Crowd swelled from afternoon, some people assembled in the morning (at the venue) leading to dehydration, exhaustion. When Vijay's vehicle reached the designated spot in Karur, the crowd surged."

Devasirvadham said the people surged forward and jostled to catch a glimpse of Vijay at the rally.

On the post-mortem of the victims, Health Secretary Senthil Kumar said procedures were followed to reduce anxiety for the bereaved families.

Another video showed fans following Vijay's campaign bus on a motorcycle, which met with an accident.

The clip also showed another incident involving a vehicle chasing the bus (in which Vijay was travelling). Also, clippings showed violation of traffic rules, vehicles moving along the wrong route and so on.

Vijay's campaign in Madurai, Villupuram, Tiruchirappali, Namakkal and Karur resulted in a trail of road accidents, he said.

"Karur accounted for a maximum of 114 injuries due to road accidents, while 42 sustained injuries were reported in Villupuram, 14 in Madurai, and 12 in Tiruchirappalli."

Prior to the stampede, 34 people were hospitalised due to heat stroke in Namakkal, where the actor addressed the meeting before heading to Karur that day.

Four of them swooned at the venue, he added.