Jamshedpur, Feb. 5: A fortnight has passed since three power thefts were unearthed in Ghatshila sub-divisional area of the district. But the police have not been able to nail any of the accused, yet.

It is being said the cases were being mitigated following interference of senior politicians, leading directors of the accused mini-steel companies to move at large.

Not only are the accused moving free, they are reported to have stepped up efforts to get the cases disposed off.

The state power board’s superintending engineer, Singhbhum circle, Vinay Kumar, had on January 21 raided three industrial units at Dhalbhumgarh and Chakulia and unearthed huge power thefts.

Management of these industrial units — Johar Steel, Himadri Steel and AVN Instrument Private Limited — were slapped a penalty of Rs 12.9 crore. Another mini-steel company that was raided and penalised was Sukh Sagar Metal Private Limited in Dhalbhumgarh.

Insiders in JSEB’s Jamshedpur Area Board alleged that some top officials of the power board in connivance with the accused have started motivating the witnesses not to support the line the superintending engineer Vinay Kumar had toed in lodging the FIR. These officials are also trying to get the investigation closed.

An executive engineer, who was one of the members of the raiding team, told The Telegraph that in each of three cases, there were too many witnesses, something which tends to make the case weak in a court of law.

“We are being approached to change our opinion about the accused,” said an executive engineer on condition of anonymity. It may be mentioned here in each of mini-steel companies, as many as 12 witnesses were made to sign on the FIRs. Most of them were from the power board’s Ghatshila and city offices.