Senthil Balaji appears before CBI for questioning in Karur stampede case

V Senthil Balaji, the DMK MLA from Karur, appeared before the CBI on Tuesday for questioning over a stampede during a political rally of TVK chief Vijay in the Tamil Nadu town last year, officials said.

The CBI took over the case from an SIT following a Supreme Court order.

TVK chief and actor Vijay's rally in Karur on September 27, 2025, resulted in a massive stampede that claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 people injured.

In October last year, the apex court asked the CBI director to appoint a senior officer to take over the investigation, besides constituting a supervisory committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi to monitor the probe.

 

A top court bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and N V Anjaria had said that the stampede left an imprint in the minds of the citizens throughout the country.

It had 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 investigation process 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.