Tamil Nadu: Ajay Rastogi, head of the CBI monitoring team and retired Supreme Court judge, visited Veluchamipuram in Karur on Wednesday, the site of the stampede.
Forty-one people were killed and 110 injured in a stampede at the Thaveka campaign rally in Veluchamipuram, Karur, on September 27.
CBI officials are investigating the case.
IPS officers Sonal V. Mishra and Sumit Saran, who were part of the monitoring team formed on the orders of the Supreme Court to monitor the CBI investigation, arrived in Karur on Sunday. Subsequently, CBI DIG Atulkumar Thakur arrived in Karur on Monday and examined CBI documents related to the case. He also conducted an inspection in Veluchamipuram. Subsequently, Ajay Rastogi, head of the CBI surveillance team and retired Supreme Court judge, arrived in Karur from Coimbatore on Tuesday and interviewed Karur District Magistrate M. Thangavel, IG Joshi Nirmalkumar, and Karur District Superintendent of Police K. Joshathangaiah. Ajay Rastogi then returned to Coimbatore to stay.
Inspection in Veluchamipuram: On Wednesday, the 2nd, Ajay Rastogi, who arrived in Karur from Coimbatore, went to Veluchamipuram and inspected the scene. DIG Atul Kumar Thakur, CBI officer Praveen Kumar, and Karur District Superintendent of Police K. Joshathangaiah were present.
Later, Ajay Rastogi also inspected the locations where Thaveka had requested permission for the campaign meeting: Lighthouse Corner, Uzhava Market, and the bus stand roundabout. IG Joshi Nirmalkumar was present. Additionally, CBI officials explained to Ajay Rastogi why those areas were prohibited for the campaign. Doctors questioned: The team later returned to the Public Works Department Tourist House. There, four doctors from the Trichy Government Medical College Hospital, who conducted the post-mortems on the bodies of those killed in the stampede, appeared before the CBI officials and gave their explanations.
SP questioned again: CBI officials questioned Karur District Superintendent of Police K. Joshthangaiah and Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police Prem Anand for about two hours for the second day on Wednesday. Additionally, Thaveka Secretary Venkatesan of Salem East District and officials from various business associations met with the CBI officials and explained the traffic jam incident.
