A bus driver attached to the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Mettupalayam branch-1 in Coimbatore district, has been suspended over allegations of caste discrimination after he allegedly smeared the office floor of a Dalit branch manager with cow dung following the manager’s transfer.
The incident allegedly took place on January 23, soon after branch manager D Prakashkumar, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, received a transfer order. The driver, S Sasiraj, was suspended on Thursday by a senior TNSTC official from the Coimbatore region. Sasiraj is also the secretary of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) union affiliated with the ruling DMK.
According to TNSTC sources, Sasiraj had a history of caste-based discrimination during his tenure as traffic controller. Officials said he allegedly assigned long-distance routes to bus crew members from the Scheduled Caste community while allotting shorter routes to crew members from other castes, including his own. He is also accused of collecting money from staff in exchange for granting leave and assigning preferred duties.
Sources further alleged that Sasiraj often ignored instructions from branch managers and used caste slurs against staff. “He denied leave, fixed duty hours arbitrarily, and openly discriminated based on caste,” a TNSTC source said. Due to ongoing issues, six branch managers were transferred from the branch within a period of one-and-a-half years.
The previous branch manager had removed Sasiraj from his traffic controller post, following which Sasiraj was transferred within 15 days. Around 40 days ago, Prakashkumar took charge as the new branch manager. Sources said Sasiraj pressured him to act according to his instructions, but Prakashkumar refused and instead issued a memo against Sasiraj for alleged caste bias.
Angered by this, Sasiraj allegedly used his political influence to get Prakashkumar transferred to Ukkadam without a clear reason. On January 23, Sasiraj allegedly asked a maid to clean the branch manager’s office floor and smear it with cow dung, reportedly saying that the “pest” had left the branch. The incident allegedly occurred in front of Prakashkumar, who was left deeply traumatised and has not returned to work since.
Following complaints by some bus crew members to higher authorities, TNSTC officials stepped in and placed Sasiraj under temporary suspension.
However, Sasiraj denied all allegations. Speaking to TNIE, he said, “False charges have been levelled against me. I regularly ensure cleanliness at the branch. On that day, the room was dirty, so it was cleaned, and cow dung was applied as part of routine maintenance.”
Attempts to contact Prakashkumar for his response were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, a TNSTC official from the Coimbatore region confirmed that an inquiry is under way. “We have initiated a departmental probe into the allegations, and further action will be taken based on the findings,” the official said.
