Four elderly women died on the spot in a stampede after they tried to get tokens for getting free dhotis and sarees at an oil mill building on Jinnah Road in Vaniyambadi town near Tirupattur on Saturday evening. The owner of the oil mill, S. Ayyappa (55), who organised the free distribution, was arrested by Vaniyambadi Town police.
Police identified the victims as S. Valliammal (60), J. Rajathi (62) and C. Nagammal (60), L. Malliga (75), all from the surrounding villages. Eight persons who were injured in the incident and were admitted at the Government Taluk Hospital in Vaniyambadi.
“The owner of the oil mill, Mr. Ayyappa, got police permission only to issue free dhotis and sarees on Sunday. No permission was issued for token distribution by the police,” K. Balakrishnan, SP (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
Initial inquiries revealed the free distribution of sarees and dhotis by the private oil mil owner to about 2,000 people was being done for a decade after Pongal festival every year. As usual, the organisers issued tokens a day before the distribution of dhotis and sarees to residents, who came from 41 villages, from 10 a.m onwards on first cum first basis.
However, police said that unlike earlier when tokens and free distribution were held in open space, this time, the organiser of the event had built a compound wall around the oil mill. As a result, the beneficiaries were unable to enter the premises freely, with one another pushing themselves in the crowd to get the tokens, resulting in the stampede, police said.
Based on an alert, Vaniyambadi police led by Tirupattur SP, Mr. Balakrishnan, and Vaniyambadi Tahsildar, K. Sampath rushed to the spot. Along with residents, they shifted the injured to the government hospital. The owner of the oil mill was arrested by the police. Further investigation is on. “We have also not issued any permission for the event,” said Vaniyambadi Tasildar, K. Sampath
