Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Friday revisited the site of the 2025 Karur stampede during his first official visit to the district after taking office, questioning the police deployment at the event and announcing a memorial to honour the 41 people who lost their lives.
Addressing a gathering, Vijay said the tragedy remained deeply personal, recalling that several children who had come to see him were among those killed in the stampede.
Vijay questions police deployment
Referring to the events leading up to the tragedy, Vijay said authorities had received crowd-related alerts from neighbouring districts but no such warning was issued by Karur Police despite the large turnout.
“The Perambalur Police informed us that the crowd was growing beyond control. But the Karur Police gave no such warning. They themselves escorted us to the venue, and I trusted their assessment,” Vijay said.
Raising questions over the security arrangements, the chief minister asked who was responsible for managing the crowd and whether adequate police personnel had been deployed to handle the gathering.
“Who gave the orders? Was sufficient police protection provided for such a massive crowd?” he asked.
‘We lost children of our sisters’
Expressing grief over the lives lost, Vijay said the victims included several children whose deaths had left a lasting impact on him.
“We have lost children of our sisters in the 2025 Karur stampede,” he said, describing the incident as one of the darkest moments in recent Tamil Nadu history.
CM accuses rivals of politicising tragedy
During his speech, Vijay criticised the opposition DMK and AIADMK, accusing political parties of attempting to derive political advantage from the stampede.
Without naming specific leaders, he alleged that some individuals had tried to create unnecessary drama around the tragedy for political mileage instead of focusing on justice for the victims and their families.
TVK to build memorial in Karur
Vijay also announced that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) would construct a memorial in Karur to honour those who died in the stampede.
According to the chief minister, the memorial will preserve the memory of the victims while serving as a reminder of the importance of crowd safety and accountability.
He said the monument would help future generations remember the tragedy and ensure that similar incidents are never repeated.
