Karur stampede: Police arrest TVK functionary Mathiyazhagan, YouTuber Felix Gerald

KARUR: Karur City Police have arrested Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s (TVK) Karur West District Secretary, Mathiyazhagan, in connection with the stampede during the party chief Vijay’s rally, which claimed 41 lives, ADGP Davidson Devasirvatham told ANI.

Police have also arrested Paun Raj, the Karur town functionary who arranged flagpoles and flex banners for the rally. Paun Raj was arrested as he provided shelter to TVK functionary Mathiyazhagan, the ADGP said over a phone call.

According to Chennai Police, YouTuber and journalist Felix Gerald has also been arrested in connection with the incident.

The incident occurred when a massive crowd at Vijay’s rally in Karur reportedly turned chaotic, triggering panic among the crowd. As several attendees fainted, they were rushed to nearby hospitals.

The loss of lives in the tragic stampede on Saturday has gone up to 41 and includes 18 women and 10 children.

After Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Union Minister L Murugan and Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagenthran, met the families of the victims, an eight-member delegation of NDA leaders will visit Karur in Tamil Nadu to look into the circumstances which led to the loss of lives in the stampede.

BJP chief JP Nadda has constituted the delegation, which includes BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, MP; Tejasvi Surya and Braj Lal, Aprajita Sarangi, Rekha Sharma, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde and Putta Mahesh Kumar from Telugu Desam Party (TDP). BJP MP Hema Malini is the convenor of the committee.

Nadda expressed his heartfelt condolences to the kin of people who lost their lives in the stampede. He prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin constituted a one-member commission headed by retired High Court judge Aruna Jagadeesan to probe the incident.

While Nirmala Sitharaman advocated for a standard operating procedure (SOP) to effectively manage large public gatherings to deter such incidents, MK Stalin also said that political parties and public organisations should frame rules on how public events must be organised responsibly. (ANI)