'1 Cop For 50 People': Tamil Nadu Police Defends Deployment At TVK Chief Vijay's Rally

Tamil Nadu police have rejected allegations of inadequate deployment of personnel at Thamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and actor Vijay's rally in Karur, where a stampede left 40 people dead and nearly 100 injured on Saturday evening.

Amid criticism that the 500 police personnel deployed could not control the crowd, ADGP (Law & Order) Davidson Devasirvatham said the deployment was made in proportion to the turnout anticipated. "The Karur event was categorised as high-risk. We deployed 500 personnel in the ratio of one cop for every 50 people, anticipating 25,000 people - 2.5 times more than what the organisers themselves had expected. Ultimately, nearly 27,000 people turned up," he said.

He cited recent examples to underline that the state police had consistently ensured adequate deployment at Vijay's political events: 650 personnel in Trichy, 287 in Ariyalur, 480 in Perambalur, 410 in Nagapattinam, 413 in Tiruvarur and 279 in Namakkal - where, he recalled, 34 people had suffered heatstroke and required hospitalisation.

Drawing a comparison, he pointed out that for AIADMK chief and LoP Edappadi Palaniswami's recent rally at the same Karur venue, only 137 policemen were deployed "as it was an orderly crowd." 

However, he admitted that during Vijay's rally, the situation turned chaotic. "Yesterday we couldn't even move the injured through the crowd. Even Vijay himself could not be taken out," Devasirvatham said.

On Palaniswami's doubts about ambulances, the officer clarified that TVK, as per agreed conditions, had arranged two ambulances. "After the stampede, police alerted the local station, and nearly 10 ambulances were mobilised from private hospitals," he said. He also dismissed reports of stone pelting.

How The Trouble Began?

Devasirvatham explained that the chaos stemmed from delays and crowd restlessness. Vijay's Namakkal campaign, scheduled for 12 noon, was delayed by four hours. The actor-politician finally left at 4:15 pm, entered Karur by 6:00 pm, and got into his campaign van.

"There was a huge urge among people to see him. The crowd followed his vehicle for nearly an hour. TVK organisers did not agree for  Vijay's address stopping his vehicle 50 metres ahead of the designated spot. For 10 minutes after arrival, none could see him. The crowd turned restless, and there was a sudden surge," he said.

He added that many supporters had arrived by 11:00 am, waiting for hours without food and water, which may have aggravated the situation. "An incident happened on the sides of the crowd, which we are still investigating," he said.

Power Cut Twist

Amid allegations of mismanagement, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Department clarified that uninterrupted power supply was maintained in Karur during the rally. However, TVK organisers, who had arranged their own generators and focus lights, witnessed a disruption as the crowd surged.

While the police maintain that conditions laid down were violated by the party, the TVK has accused them of failing to regulate traffic and ensure smooth crowd dispersal, calling it the root cause of the stampede. The party has announced plans to move the Madras High Court seeking an independent probe, alleging a "criminal conspiracy" by the ruling DMK, a charge strongly denied by the Dravidian party.