TVK chief and actor Vijay appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday for questioning in connection with the Karur stampede case, officials said.
The Tamil superstar reached the heavily barricaded CBI headquarters in Delhi at 11.29 am in a black Range Rover.
Anticipating a large turnout of supporters, multiple units of the Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces were deployed around the agency’s office to prevent any protests.
After the completion of initial formalities, Vijay was taken to the Anti-Corruption unit of the CBI, which is probing the September 27, 2025, stampede in Tamil Nadu’s Karur district. The incident claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 people injured.
Despite the security cordon, a small group of fans managed to slip in among the mediapersons gathered outside the CBI office to catch a glimpse of the actor-politician.
“We are all based in Delhi. We are around 40 fans who have come here to get a glimpse of the actor. We are all big fans of the star,” Aiyanar, an operations manager with a Noida-based MNC, told PTI.
Vijay had left for Delhi from Chennai at 7 am on a chartered flight along with some of his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) colleagues, including Aadhav Arjuna, party sources said.
The CBI has already questioned several TVK office bearers in connection with the case. Officials also confirmed that Tamil Nadu’s former Additional Director General of Police (law and order), S Davidson Devasirvatham, has been summoned.
The federal agency took over the investigation from a Special Investigation Team following a Supreme Court order.
In October last year, the apex court directed the CBI director to appoint a senior officer to handle the probe and constituted a three-member supervisory committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi to monitor the investigation.
A bench comprising Justices J. K. Maheshwari and N. V. Anjaria said the stampede had “left an imprint in the minds of citizens throughout the country”.
It noted that the incident had wide implications for the right to life and the need to protect the fundamental rights of families who lost their kin.
Referring to the political undertones of the case, the court observed that senior police officers had spoken to the media “without having regard for the gravity of the incident”, which could create doubts about the fairness of the probe.
“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.
