A Supreme Court-appointed panel overseeing the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the Karur stampede in Tamil Nadu will begin on-ground inspections on December 1, sources told NDTV. The committee, led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, is scheduled to spend three days at the site of the incident and has prepared a checklist for scrutiny.
According to sources, the panel will examine every spot at ground zero, mapping the sequence of events that led to the deadly stampede during actor-turned-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally. The tragedy, which unfolded on October 12, claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 people injured.
Ahead of its visit, the panel has prepared a set of questions for the Karur district administration. These include queries on the nature of permission granted for the political rally, the adequacy of crowd control measures, and the administration's minute-by-minute understanding of how the stampede unfolded.
The panel will demand explanations on whether protocols were followed, what safety assessments were conducted, and how emergency response systems were activated once the crowd surge began.
The panel has warned the CBI that "no external influence will be accepted in the probe".
"Justice for victims is the core objective," the panel has said.
The panel had a meeting last week with CBI officers. The CBI had also filed the first status report of the probe to the panel, telling the line of investigation and its timeline. Sources told TV that the panel wants the info from local administration and government employees who were present at the site.
The order for the CBI investigation was issued by the Supreme Court on October 12, alongside the decision to establish the supervisory committee. The bench had also criticised the Madras High Court's handling of the case, noting that the scale of the tragedy demanded robust scrutiny with national implications.
The committee - chaired by Justice Rastogi and comprising two senior officers, Sumit Saran (currently on deputation with the BSF) and Sonal V Mishra (IG, Provisioning, CRPF, New Delhi) - has already begun initial groundwork.
