Chennai, Oct 15 Two senior leaders of actor Vijay's TVK outfit — Karur West District Secretary Mathiyazhagan and Municipal In-charge Paunraj — have been granted bail in connection with the tragic stampede that claimed 41 lives during a party rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur on September 27.
The Karur police had arrested the duo on September 30 following the massive crowd crush at a public meeting organised by the party as part of its statewide outreach campaign.
The event, which drew thousands of enthusiastic supporters, turned deadly when chaos broke out amid a long delay in the arrival of party leader and actor Vijay.
Reports later revealed that the venue had become severely overcrowded and lacked adequate arrangements for drinking water, food, and crowd management.
Following the tragedy, the Tamil Nadu government faced severe criticism over security and logistical lapses.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, addressing the Assembly on Wednesday, said the event had been granted permission with 11 specific conditions and was provided with more police deployment than usual. However, the uncontrolled surge led to the deaths of 41 people and injuries to many others, most of them women who had gathered since early morning to see Vijay.
Mathiyazhagan and Paunraj were initially sent to 14 days of judicial custody and lodged in the Trichy Central Prison. Their custody period ended on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as the case was officially transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the accused petitioned the court to relieve the state’s special investigation team (SIT) from further inquiry.
Acting on the plea, the Karur district judge directed that both accused be produced before the court.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the judge granted them unconditional bail, considering that the case had now come under the CBI’s jurisdiction.
The CBI is expected to investigate whether event organisers violated safety norms and if there was any negligence by authorities in enforcing conditions.
Vijay, who has announced his entry into full-time politics through the TVK and plans to contest the 2026 Assembly elections, expressed deep sorrow over the incident and pledged full cooperation with the investigation.
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