CUDDALORE: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Villupuram division, has suspended five crew members — three conductors and two drivers — after objectionable political slogans flashed on a govt bus’s digital route board.The incident involved a bus (Route 241, registration no. TN 32 N 5013) travelling from Trichy to Neyveli on Oct 13. Upon receiving reports about unauthorised text scrolling on the rear digital board, officials made inquiries with an electrician the same night.TNSTC managing director (Villupuram division) S Sreedharan said physical inspection confirmed that the Wi-Fi mode was deactivated on the display and the technicians from LED Geo (the device manufacturer) discovered that the motherboard inside the digital board unit was not securely locked.He said the system accepts text updates via software or USB pen drives. A thorough inquiry with the duty drivers and conductors revealed that they had not uploaded the content. The officials suspect that a passenger on board may have accessed and tampered with the display unit.However, the corporation management held the crew accountable for failing to notice and prevent the breach and cited negligence on their part led to the incident. It placed drivers — A P Chithirai Selvan and P Paranthaman and conductors — Senthilamarai Kannan, R Venkatesan and E Manikandan on a one-week temporary suspension.Sreedharan issued a warning circular across the entire Villupuram division, directing the employees to ensure strict monitoring and prevent similar technical tampering or lapses in the future.
