CBI summons TVK chief Vijay on March 15 in Karur stampede case
Vijay asked to appear at agency headquarters in Delhi; DMK MLA Senthil Balaji called for questioning on March 17 as probe into 2025 rally tragedy continues
New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The CBI has asked actor and TVK chief Vijay to appear before it on March 15 here in the Karur stampede case, officials said Tuesday.
The agency, which questioned Vijay twice in January, had again summoned the actor on March 9, but he had requested that it be deferred by 15 days, they said.
The actor had also urged that the questioning be conducted in Chennai or any office in Tamil Nadu, citing political engagements due to upcoming assembly elections in the state, they said.
The CBI has now asked him to appear on March 15 in Delhi at the agency headquarters, they said.
The central probe agency has also asked the DMK MLA from Karur, Senthil Balaji, to appear for questioning on March 17, they said.
In a message posted on 'X' in Tamil, Balaji, a former state minister, wrote that he intends to appear before the CBI on March 17 and give clarification regarding the Karur stampede tragedy.
The CBI took over the case from an SIT following a Supreme Court order and has been gathering evidence related to the September 27, 2025, stampede that claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 people injured during Vijay's rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur.
In October last year, the apex court asked the CBI director to appoint a senior officer to take over the investigation and also constituted a supervisory committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi to monitor the agency's investigation.
A bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and N V Anjaria had said the stampede has left an imprint in the minds of citizens throughout the country. It has wide ramifications with respect to the lives of citizens, and enforcing the fundamental rights of the families who lost their kin is of utmost importance, the court said.
"The faith and trust of the general public in the process of investigation must be restored in the criminal justice system, and one way to instil such trust is by ensuring that the investigation in the present case is completely impartial, independent and unbiased," the bench said. PTI