Thrissur (Kerala) | Five persons were arrested for allegedly vandalising a KSEB office in Mala here and assaulting an employee over a power outage ahead of the FIFA World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred at the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) office at Annamanada near Mala around midnight.

According to police, the KSEB has imposed a half-hour night-time power cut in the area due to the electricity shortage following low rainfall.

As part of the scheduled power cut, electricity supply in the Annamanada area was disconnected from the midnight.

Police said a group of people, alleging that the power had been cut ahead of the World Cup semifinal, reached the KSEB office and questioned the employee on duty over the outage.

The accused allegedly assaulted the employee and vandalised the office, causing damage estimated at around Rs 10,000.

Mala police registered a case, identified the accused and arrested all five.

They will be produced before a court as part of the remand proceedings on Friday, officials said.

In a separate incident, DYFI activists staged a protest outside the KSEB office at Erumapetty in the district after power supply was disrupted around 12.30 am when the semifinal match had begun.

Police said the protesters dispersed after the electricity supply was restored.