India, Sept. 29 -- The death toll in the stampede at actor Vijay's political rally in southern Tamil Nadu rose to 40 on Sunday as a senior police officer ruled out intelligence failure and appeared to blame delays at the event for the tragedy that the Madras high court called a "shocking incident".

The bodies of the 40 people - including 17 women and nine children - who died in the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stampede at Karur on Saturday were sent to their families as angry questions mounted about why a crowd higher the permitted size was allowed to assemble in the sweltering heat. Over a 100 were injured.

The first information report - filed at Karur town police station - charged TVK's Karur (north) district secretary Madhiazhagan,...