A stampede during a public rally by Tamil Nadu’s TVK party leader and actor Joseph Vijay in Velusamypuram, Karur district of Tamil Nadu, on Saturday night, September 27, shocked the entire state. At least 40 people, including children, were killed and many others injured. According to police and eyewitnesses, the incident could have been avoided if rules had been followed. The party had anticipated a crowd of only 10,000 people and made arrangements accordingly, but over 50,000 supporters gathered at the venue.
Unruly crowds, Joseph Vijay’s late arrival, improper organisation, and the disregard of pre-meeting warnings are being cited as the main reasons behind the incident. Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) G. Venkataraman presented detailed facts in a press conference on Monday morning, highlighting the severity of the incident.
DGP G. Venkataraman revealed the main reasons for the incident in a Monday morning press conference. He said, “The stampede was caused by the swell of crowds and a seven-hour delay in Joseph Vijay’s arrival. People waited in the hot sun, lacking adequate food and water. People began gathering as early as 11 a.m., following the announcement on TVK’s Twitter handle that he would arrive at 12 p.m., even though the permission was from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Vijay arrived at 7:40 p.m. Our intention is not to blame anyone, but to state the facts.”
Police sources confirmed that the permission letter for the gathering estimated 10,000 people, but in reality, over 50,000 people attended. The stampede resulted in 41 deaths, including women and children. Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) against TVK officials, alleging negligence. The DGP clarified that no one guilty will be spared in the investigation.
Regarding the reasons for the stampede, as police stated, TVK’s official Twitter handle posted information about the rally starting at 12:00 PM, leading supporters to arrive at Velusamypuram as early as 11:00 AM. However, in the permission letter submitted to the district police, the party had only estimated the rally to last from 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM, and had specified a maximum attendance of 10,000 people.
Joseph Vijay’s rally in Namakkal ended at 3:30 PM. Hundreds of supporters then began running after his convoy. A source close to Vijay’s convoy stated that the tinted windows of his campaign vehicle had been closed to prevent people from seeing him and following him. However, this had the opposite effect, and people became even more excited and began running after the bus because they could not see Vijay’s face.
When the crowd from Namakkal joined the crowd from Karur, the situation spiraled out of control. The crowd, already dominated by supporters from the Namakkal and Paramathivelur areas, had already become unruly.
Due to a delay in arriving from Namakkal to Karur, Joseph Vijay arrived at the venue only at 5:45 p.m. This two-and-a-half-hour delay further agitated the crowd. People had been waiting in the sun for hours. Supporters already present at the venue did not see any special management team while waiting. The party had not appointed any specific officials or teams to control the cadres. Furthermore, despite police instructions, at least eight children, who were barred due to age, were present at the meeting.
As soon as Vijay began his speech in Karur at 7:10 p.m., a stampede broke out within 10 minutes. According to several sources, a dozen people sitting on a tree branch fell onto the crowd, worsening the situation. A senior police officer stated, “The broken branch of the tree was a major factor in making this accident so fatal.”
Some videos showed people screaming for help as they were suffocated by the heat and in the rush of the crowd. Some children were sitting on the shoulders of their parents, who were watching Jospeh Vijay’s bus from a distance. As the crowd grew and people started to feel suffocated, Vijay stopped his speech and threw water bottles into the crowd. But amid the shouting and panic, he resumed his speech, unable to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Tamil Nadu DGP G. Venkataraman said that “the farmers’ market and the Lighthouse Roundabout, where TVK had sought permission for the meeting, were smaller than the Velusamypuram grounds.”
Immediately after the accident, Jospeh Vijay flew from Karur to Tiruchirapalli airport and arrived at his beach house in Chennai after midnight. According to sources, he had been informed of the casualties, but he did not speak to the media and avoided cameras. This has angered locals, who believe that Joseph Vijay “fled.”
Eyewitnesses reported that AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s last rally was held on Thursday, September 25, but the TVK did not learn from past shortcomings.
Chaos also occurred at Joseph Vijay’s previous rallies. Two weeks ago, a five-hour delay to Joseph Vijay’s rally in Tiruchirapalli caused traffic jams and disrupted normal life. Police had allotted only 30 minutes, but the massive crowd slowed down vehicles. Similar chaos was witnessed in Namakkal on Saturday, September 27. Following these incidents, the TVK issued detailed instructions to cadres, including not bringing children, not climbing electric poles, and not following the campaign vehicle. However, these were not strictly followed in Karur and Namakkal.
Earlier this month, the TVK filed a petition in the Madras High Court challenging the police’s stringent conditions for allowing rallies from September 20th to December 20th. The court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to formulate guidelines for collecting deposits from political parties, which would be adjusted as fines for damage to public property. This directive came after images of damaged property emerged during the Tiruchirapalli rally.
The incident is fueling calls for a re-examination of security standards at political gatherings. Police have warned that in the future, permit violations will face strict action.
