CHENNAI - Police charged three close aides of a popular actor and politician with culpable homicide and negligence on Sunday after a stampede at his rally in southern India killed at least 40 people, officials said.
Some 27,000 people thronged a public road in Tamil Nadu state in the hope of seeing the politician, known by the single name of Vijay, on Saturday but panic broke out, triggering a deadly crush.
Such crowd incidents happen frequently during mass gatherings in India and are often blamed on lax safety measures.
Police filed a case against three senior members of Vijay's party, whom they identified as Bussy Anand, G.R. Nirmal Kumar and V.P. Mathiyazhagan.
"A case has been registered and the investigation will reveal all who are involved," senior police officer S. Davidson Devasirvatham told reporters.
All three have been charged with "culpable homicide not amounting to murder" and negligent conduct endangering human life.
Witnesses cited hours of delays, insufficient police presence and people falling from a tree branch onto the audience as reasons contributing to the crush.
[SRC] https://www.ewn.co.za/2025/09/28/indian-actor-politicians-aides-charged-after-rally-stampede-kills-40
