Vijay seeks future CBI inquiry on Karur stampede in TN
Chennai (PTI): TVK chief Vijay has appealed to the CBI to hold its future inquiry into the Karur stampede case in Chennai or elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, citing his Assembly election-related engagements.
Prior to appearing for the CBI's questioning on March 15, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder wrote to the investigating agency stating that he had already appeared for questioning in New Delhi on January 12 and 19 in compliance with the notices for his appearance before the CBI office in the national capital.
The letter dated March 14 was also marked to Justice Ajay Rastogi who has been appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the investigation into the tragic Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives and left many injured.
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In the letter, Vijay pointed out that he had sought a minimum of 10-15 days' time for his appearance for the inquiry and also requested permission to appear either in Chennai or any other place in Tamil Nadu due to his "personal inconvenience and commitments and preoccupation with respect to the ensuring Assembly election work."
Inspite of the request, the investigating officer asked him to appear in New Delhi on March 15, he said.
On Sunday, the actor-politician was questioned for more than seven hours and left the CBI office at around 6.30 pm. During the third round of questioning, he was accompanied by his party leaders Aadhav Arjuna and C T R Nirmal Kumar.
According to TVK sources on Tuesday, Vijay was said to have stated in the letter that he appeared for inquiry as a "law abiding citizen." He and his party cadres were victims of the Karur tragedy and were in "unexplainable mental agony due to the loss of lives and injuries during the stampede (on September 27, 2025) despite genuine precautions."
The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are scheduled on April 23.
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Trump vows to ‘finish job’, thanks Middle East allies; urges countries to show courage, buy US oil
Says US will ‘hit Iran extremely hard’ over next 2-3 weeks, threatens power plants
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is close to achieving its objectives in Iran, while thanking key allies in the Middle East for their support.
“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” Trump said, expressing appreciation to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. “They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form,” he added.
Trump claimed that US military operations against Iran have delivered major results over the past month. Referring to “Operation Epic Fury”, he said American forces had carried out “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.
He said Iran’s naval and air capabilities had been severely weakened and its ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced. “Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces – very few of them left,” he said.
The US president also repeated his criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal signed under former President Barack Obama, claiming it would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Trump said the US military campaign aims to weaken Iran’s ability to support proxy groups and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily,” he said, adding that key strategic objectives are “nearing completion”.
In a separate remark, Trump urged countries dependent on Gulf oil to take action and suggested they should rely more on American energy supplies. He called on them to show “delayed courage” and secure the Strait of Hormuz, which has been affected by the ongoing conflict.
“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it,” he said, adding that the United States has sufficient oil resources.
The remarks come as tensions remain high in the region, with continued military exchanges and growing concerns over global energy supplies.
“We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president said.
We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he added.
He further added that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.
He’s also warned Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.
“If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.
