Here are the big stories from Tamil Nadu today

Govt. Arts College Udhagamandalam Principal caught on video allegedly accepting ₹4,000 bribe from student for hostel admission. Madras HC displeased with Southern Railway for not installing CCTV cameras in TN railway stations since 2016. IT Dept. searches premises of electronic component manufacturer Flex in Chennai. NIA questioning two of 13 accused in Coimbatore car blast case.

The Principal of the Government Arts College in Udhagamandalam was caught on video allegedly accepting an envelope, reportedly containing cash, from a student of the college for admitting him to the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department-run hostel.

According to sources, including teachers from the college, the student, was asked to pay ₹10,000 as a bribe by the principal in exchange for a place to stay at the hostel.

“As the boy could not pay the full amount demanded by the principal, he gave an advance of ₹4,000 to him, which he managed to capture on video,” alleged the source requesting anonymity. When contacted, the Principal, Arul Antony, denied the allegations and said the student was handing over college fees to him.

The Madras High Court expressed displeasure over Southern Railway not having installed CCTV cameras in all 442 railway stations in Tamil Nadu even seven years after 24-year-old techie S. Swathi was hacked to death at Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai in 2016.

Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu wrote that the inordinate delay “demonstrates the total apathy on the part of the administration towards the security system in railway stations,” and directed Southern Railway to come up with a reasonable timeline within which all railway stations in Tamil Nadu would be provided with CCTV surveillance.

The observations were made while passing interim orders on a suo motu public interest litigation petition that had been taken up by the High Court in 2016 after the techie’s murder in broad daylight, supposedly due to unrequited love.

The Income Tax Department conducted searches at the premises of electronic component manufacturer Flex (earlier Flextronics) at Kandanchavadi, Chennai, as a part of an inquiry. Flex is a supplier to Apple.