Justice Aruna Jagadeesan: The Experienced Investigator Behind Tamil Nadu's Vijay Rally Stampede Probe

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has appointed a commission led by retired Justice Aruna Jagadeesan to investigate the tragic stampede at actor-politician Vijay's political rally in Karur on Saturday.

Justice Jagadeesan, a former judge of the Madras High Court, has extensive experience heading significant Commissions of Inquiry throughout Tamil Nadu.

She served on the Madras High Court bench from 2009 until her retirement in 2015.

Her previous investigations include the 2018 Tuticorin anti-Sterlite protests violence, where 13 people died in police firing against protesters opposing the Sterlite Copper smelting plant. Her commission subsequently recommended action against 17 police officials, including several IPS officers.

Justice Jagadeesan was also part of the bench that cleared Chennai Police of wrongdoing in the February 2015 Velachery incident, where five bank robbery suspects were killed in alleged encounters.

She has also investigated cases related to the wealth of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her associates.

The recent stampede at Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) political rally in Karur resulted in at least 39 fatalities and nearly 100 injuries.

According to Tamil Nadu's Director General of Police G Venkataraman, the organizers anticipated approximately 10,000 attendees, but around 27,000 people actually arrived at the event.

During a late-night press conference, he confirmed that 500 personnel had been deployed to manage the rally.

"Previous TVK rallies attracted smaller crowds, but this event's attendance greatly exceeded expectations," Venkataraman stated.

He explained that a crowd surge occurred after the TVK party announced on its official X account that 51-year-old Vijay would arrive at the venue by 12 noon. However, the official permission for the rally had been requested for the time period between 3 pm and 10 pm.

"The official permission was for 3 pm-10 pm. However, the TVK Twitter announcement indicated he would arrive at 12, causing crowds to gather from 11 AM. He eventually arrived at 7:40 PM. People suffered from insufficient food and water while waiting in the hot sun," he noted, adding it was "too early to determine the exact cause of the stampede."

Video footage from the venue showed thousands surrounding a large campaign vehicle where Vijay was standing and addressing the crowd.

Additional visuals showed Vijay distributing water bottles from the vehicle to supporters who were fainting and calling for police assistance when the crowd became unmanageable.