TVK chief and actor Vijay - who is being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Delhi in connection with the Karur stampede tragedy - has again been summoned on January 19. Vijay was questioned last yesterday. Sources said in the six-hour session, he had told the Central agency that his party is responsible for the stampede that cost 41 lives.
The investigation into the September 27 tragedy has changed hands several times.
The case was transferred to the Central agency after the Supreme Court had said more investigation was needed and scrapped a one-member commission appointed earlier by the Tamil Nadu government.
The probe, the court also said, should be monitored by a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
Initially, the Madras High Court had formed a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
The stampede, in which 41 people lost their lives, occurred at a massive political rally addressed by Vijay last year. It was one of the deadliest crowd-related disasters in recent years in the state.
The Tamil Nadu Police had blamed the chaos on Vijay's alleged inordinate delay in arriving at the venue. There were no adequate arrangements -- food, water, and toilet facilities - and the irate crowd had turned unruly, they had maintained.
Vijay, however, denied the allegations, calling them a "conspiracy" by the DMK, a charge the ruling party has rejected. He has also accused the police of poor crowd management and failing to clear bottlenecks on approach roads to the venue.
