CBI DIG Atul Kumar Thakur will visit Velusamypuram on the Karur-Erode highway on December 1, 2025, where 41 people were killed in a stampede on September 27, 2025 during a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam President Vijay. Photo: Special arrangement
CBI Deputy Inspector General of Police Atul Kumar Thakur on Monday (December 1, 2025) visited Velusamypuram on the Karur-Erode highway where 41 people were killed in a stampede on September 27 during a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay.
Mr. Thakur reviewed the progress of the investigation being conducted by the Central Agency on the orders of the Supreme Court.
Accompanied by CBI officials who have been camping in Karur for more than five weeks since the case was handed over to the agency from a special investigation team set up by the Madras High Court, Mr. Thakur visited the site of the stampede and surveyed the area. He conducted random consultations with officials. He examined the place where Mr. Vijay addressed the gathering from the top of his campaign vehicle and the places where ambulances were picking up bodies or injured persons and the grounds of these places.
Earlier, Mr. Thakur visited the Circuit House in Karur, which the CBI team is using as a temporary office, and held discussions with officials. The officials explained to him the procedure of the investigation.
Mr. Thakur’s exercise assumes significance in the wake of a proposed visit by a Supreme Court-appointed committee overseeing the probe. The committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi, will visit the site of the stampede on Tuesday (December 2). The three-member committee will spend about three days in Karuru to review the progress of the case.
The CBI has so far conducted investigations with a number of persons. TVK general secretary N. Anand alias “Bussy” Anand and Karur West district secretary of the party VP Mathiyazhagan, who were named as the accused, Deputy Superintendent of Police and Superintendent of Police in Karur were among those questioned.
In addition, several police officers who were on duty at the meeting and adjacent places, as well as owners and drivers of ambulances, were interviewed. She conducted investigations with a number of injured persons and relatives of those killed in the stampede.
In a statement, Karur Collector M. Thangavel said that the Ajay Rastogi committee will visit Karur on Tuesday (December 2). Those affected by the stampede, the public and representatives of the associations could meet the committee members in the Circle House at the Collectorate from 10:30 a.m. and submit petitions.
Published – 01 Dec 2025 21:59 IST
