CHENNAI: Investigating the Karur stampede case that claimed 41 lives, the CBI issued fresh summons to actor and TVK president Vijay and DMK leader V Senthilbalaji to appear on March 15 and 17, respectively.
Vijay was initially asked to appear on Tuesday, but he skipped citing party and Assembly election-related work, and instead sought 10-15 days’ time. In the fresh summons, the central agency asked the actor to appear in Delhi on March 15.
"We requested that the questioning be held in Chennai, but they have asked him to appear in Delhi," said TVK joint general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar, who also alleged that former minister Senthilbalaji should be the first person to be questioned in connection with the Karur incident.
Meanwhile, Senthilbalaji will appear before the CBI in Delhi on March 17. Earlier, reports from Delhi said the DMK leader’s staff had refused to accept the summon to appear on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Karur on Monday night, he said a team of officials went to his house in Rameswaram Patti, where they met his father Velusamy and asked for him.
“When my father told them that I was in Chennai, they left. When my father informed me about it, I asked him whether they had handed over any letter. But he said they had not given him anything. I have neither received any letter in my office nor in my official email,” Senthilbalaji said.
The speculations surfaced again on Tuesday morning, stating that the CBI has sent fresh summons to the DMK leader by email. Later, Balaji himself cleared the air, stating that the CBI has sought some clarification about the Karur stampede incident. He added that he would appear before the investigating officers in Delhi on March 17 to answer their queries.