Over 3,500 government employees arrested

Coimbatore: Over 3,500 government employees were arrested today in three districts of Coimbatore, Tirupur and Nilgiris, when they attempted to stage picketing in front of the respective district collectorates, to press their charter of demands, police said.

The employees, affiliated to different unions, raised slogans in support of their 20-point charter of demands, including old pension scheme and filling vacancies, for which they were on indefinite strike for the last one week.

While over 1,000 were arrested in Coimbatore, some 1,500 were arrested in Tirupur and about 1,000 in Udhagamandalam in Nilgiris district, police said.