State authorities have responded swiftly: the Karur Town police lodged a first information report naming three senior TVK functionaries — general secretary Bussy Anand, joint general secretary C. T. Nirmal Kumar, and Karur district secretary Mathiazhagan — on charges including culpable homicide, endangering public safety, and mismanagement. Mathiazhagan was arrested late Monday night. Two functionaries, V. P. Mathiyalagan and Kasi Pounraj, were also remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody in a parallel case related to the event.
The Tamil Nadu government has rejected allegations of negligence, presenting video evidence that purports to show that 500 police officers had been deployed in anticipation of 20,000 attendees, with an additional 50 added later. Officials argued that organisers defied police advice by insisting on bringing Vijay’s vehicle into a crowded area, exacerbating the surge. They denied using force during crowd control, and said ambulances had been dispatched well before the speech began.
Eyewitness accounts and survivor narratives paint a bleaker portrait of the event’s management. Attendees reported a near total lack of drinking water, long hours under the sun, and absence of buffer zones that might have prevented crushing pressure. One described the scene as “a human flood.” A collapsed bakery roof during the chaos triggered panic, especially among women and children. Volunteers and local medical teams scrambled to clear pathways and administer first aid as ambulances repeatedly faced gridlock.
Vijay, who launched TVK in February 2024 ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly election, released a video plea to Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, appealing for “leeway” for his supporters amid ongoing police action. He has pledged compensation of ₹20 lakh to each family of the deceased and ₹2 lakh to those injured. He described himself as “writhing in unbearable, indescribable pain.” The actor had earlier tried to calm the crowd by distributing water bottles and urging passage for ambulances as the situation became chaotic.
Chief Minister Stalin visited hospitals in Karur, met the affected families, and announced compensation for the victims. He also ordered the constitution of a judicial commission headed by retired Madras High Court Justice Aruna Jagadeesan to investigate the incident. Opposition figures, including Edappadi K. Palaniswami, accused the ruling establishment of failing in its duty to protect citizen safety and demanded that the judicial inquiry be expanded to include oversight institutions such as the CBI.
Meanwhile, the state’s education minister intervened indirectly by urging students not to let political fervour endanger their safety or academic future. At the same time, a controversial social media post by TVK’s campaign management general secretary Aadhav Arjuna has invited fresh scrutiny: the post, since deleted, alleged that the police now function as “foot soldiers of the ruling class” and urged Gen Z constituents to resist authority. He has been booked under provisions for incitement, though the authenticity of the screenshot is being verified.