TN stampede: TVK Karur West district secretary Mathyiyalagan arrested
Karur (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Actor-politician Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s Karur West district secretary was arrested in connection with the stampede at the party president’s rally, police said.
Karur West district secretary V P Mathyiyalagan was among the three TVK office bearers named in the FIR into the stampede that occurred on September 27 in which at least 41 people died and 60 were injured.
TVK state general secretary Bussy Anand and party deputy general secretary Nirmal Kumar are the other two party office bearers named in the FIR.
Mathyiyalagan was picked up near the Karur-Dindigul border, an official said on Monday night.
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.
It also said TVK party functionaries did not regulate their cadres or heed police warnings against overcrowding.
"Cadres perched atop tin sheets and tree branches, by throwing caution to the wind, fell on people standing below, and as a result, many choked, leading to an abnormal situation", police said in the FIR.
The toll in the stampede increased to 41 on Monday, with a 60-year-old woman succumbing to her injuries at a hospital.
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At UN, India flags concerns over targeting of vessels in Strait of Hormuz
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”.
