Indian police investigate Vijay’s ‘overcrowded’ political rally as 40 people die

Police in India are investigating after 40 people died in a stampede at a political rally that officials said was much larger than expected.

The tragedy happened in Tamil Nadu as actor-turned-politician Vijay was campaigning for his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party ahead of state elections early next year.

Detectives have filed a case “against TVK party senior leaders Bussy Anand, Nirmal Kumar and VP Mathiyalagan, and the investigation is under way”, senior police official V Selvaraj said.

“TVK originally sought permission for a gathering of 10,000 people, but the actual crowd was more than double,” he added.

Ma Subramanian, Tamil Nadu’s health minister, who said “there was indiscipline” at the rally, announced on Sunday that the number of deaths following the event in the Karur district had risen by four to 40.

At least 124 people who were injured have been treated in hospital.

Mr Subramanian said 36 victims were dead by the time they reached hospital on Saturday night and four more died later.

Nine of the dead were children, he said, adding that the injured were largely in a stable condition.

Vijay, whose full name is Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, was one of the southern Indian state’s most bankable stars for three decades.

He said he was “heartbroken” by the stampede, pledging support for the victims’ families.

Vijay’s rallies have drawn massive crowds since he launched his party last year.

He was supposed to address the rally around noon but arrived more than six hours late, by which time the heat was stifling, according to S Sabesan, a 42-year-old textile businessman who was there. He said by that time, a large crowd had packed surrounding roads.

Mr Sabesan said a lot of barricades and ropes were placed around the venue “for crowd management”, but the crowd became so large that “nobody could control it”.

Local media video showed Vijay throwing water bottles from the top of his vehicle to fainting supporters during the event, and calling for police help when the crowd became uncontrollable.

Lawyer R Rajendaran said a commotion began when Vijay tried to leave, as “hundreds of his fans and supporters chased his vehicle”.

“That is what led to the stampede.”

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin announced compensation of one million rupees (£8,400) per family as the state appointed a commission to investigate the cause of the stampede.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that the incident was “deeply saddening”.