Chennai, May 23 -- Tamil Nadu Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar on Saturday alleged that there was a "conspiracy" behind recent power outages in parts of the state and warned that strict action would be taken against those responsible by tonight.

Speaking to reporters after participating in the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Engineers' Association, the minister said a few negligent individuals within the Electricity Board had been identified and were suspected of deliberately causing disruptions.

"While 99 per cent of the Electricity Board employees are working efficiently, a few black sheep have been identified displaying negligence. Information has been received that certain individuals, possibly acting unde...