In a significant judicial decision stemming from the tragic Karur stampede incident that claimed 41 lives, the Judicial Magistrate I court on Wednesday refused to extend the judicial custody for TVK functionaries V.P. Mathiyazhagan and C. Pounraj. This ruling led to their immediate release.
Mathiyazhagan, the Karur (west) district secretary, and Pounraj, the Karur central town secretary, had been brought from the Tiruchi Central Prison to appear before Judicial Magistrate S.P. Bharat Kumar as their judicial custody period concluded.
During the proceedings, an Assistant Public Prosecutor advocated for an extension of their remand, citing a Supreme Court order that had transferred the Karur stampede case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The prosecutor argued that the remand should continue until the newly appointed CBI court could properly address the matter.
However, D. Arasu, the legal representative for the TVK leaders, opposed this request. He highlighted that the Supreme Court’s directive to transfer the case to the CBI had been issued on Monday. Consequently, the Special Investigation Team, which had been in charge until then, no longer held jurisdiction over the case, rendering further judicial custody inadmissible.
After carefully considering the arguments presented by both sides, Magistrate Bharat Kumar ultimately declined the request to extend judicial custody, resulting in the release of both Mathiyazhagan and Pounraj.
Meanwhile, a separate legal development unfolded concerning Venkatesan, 40, the Salem district secretary. His bail plea was dismissed by the District Sessions Court. Venkatesan had been arrested in connection with a case filed by Karur town police, accusing a group of TVK cadre of assaulting a private ambulance driver during the stampede at actor Vijay’s rally on September 27.
Public Prosecutor N. Senthilkumar argued against granting bail, stating that Venkatesan had not yet been thoroughly interrogated and that the police intended to take him into their custody for further questioning. Following these submissions, District Judge K.H. Elavazhagan rejected Venkatesan’s bail petition.