Chennai, Oct 13: Thousands of farmers were arrested in different parts of Tamil Nadu today for picketing in front of electricity board offices in different districts, demanding continuation of free power supply to them. According to police sources, around 1000 were taken into custody at least in five of 29 districts in the state. The exact number of arrests made will be known only this evening.

Arrests have been made in Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Villupuram, Coimbatore and Cuddalore and other district headquarters. Meanwhile, a spokesman of the federation told a news agency that the free power supply scheme was introduced during the DMK regime way back in 1990 to benefit nearly 18 lakh small and marginal farmers, but the present AIADMK government was taking all steps to 'discontinue the free power supply scheme', hitting the farmers hard. Bureau Report