Chennai (PTI): Noted Tamil YouTuber Felix Gerald was arrested on Tuesday for "spreading rumours" over the Karur Vijay rally stampede incident which claimed 41 lives and injured over 50, police said.

The arrest comes close on the heels of police registering cases over 20 people for allegedly spreading rumours over the stampede and following the arrest of three persons.

Gerald runs a YouTube channel featuring content in Tamil on current topics.

Meanwhile, a special police team arrested a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) functionary Pounraj for allegedly harbouring party office-bearer Mathialagan, a key accused in the stampede case, who has already been arrested.

Mathialagan was among the three TVK office bearers named in the FIR on the stampede incident.

TVK state general secretary Bussy Anand and party deputy general secretary Nirmal Kumar are the other two party office bearers named in the FIR.

The three TVK functionaries have been booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 125 (endangering life of others), and 223 (disobedience to order), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, 1992, has also been levelled against them, a police official said.

According to the FIR, TVK chief Vijay "deliberately" reached late at Velusamypuram in Karur district, leading to overcrowding and restlessness among the people, gathered to attend his rally on September 27.

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United Nations (PTI): Targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable", India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish has said.

Harish's remarks at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows came days after an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.

Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.

In a post on X on Sunday, Harish said that at the UNECOSOC meeting, he shared India's approach to the recent energy and fertiliser crisis caused by the West Asia conflict.

"A combination of short-term and structural measures alongside international cooperation are essential to respond to the crisis," he said.

"Reiterated that targeting of commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, are unacceptable. International law in this regard must be fully respected," he added.

The attack on the India-flagged vessel on May 13 took place amid the fragile situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.

It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.

Earlier, India had described the attack as "unacceptable".

At least two other Indian-flagged ships have been attacked since the conflict broke out.

According to the UNECOSOC website, the meeting, which took place on Friday, focused on “Safeguarding energy and supply flows: Supporting global development through international cooperation”.