Power dept officials heckled over theft row, 1 injured

Kolkata: A senior official of the Power department in the district was heckled by some villagers after he went to Keshpur in West Midnapore district to check an incident of power theft.

It was learnt that a station manager of the Power department in the district had gone to a village in the Keshpur area on late Monday evening after he was reported about an incident of power theft in the area.

When he reached the spot along with some other staff of the department they identified two local villagers — Madan Bera and Mukti Pandit —to be involved in the power theft.

As the station manager inquired into the reason behind tapping, they became infuriated and attacked the official. When the accused were interrogated in this connection, some of the villagers staged a demonstration in front of the officials.

It was alleged that the villagers beat up the station manager and also heckled other staff as they had demanded a clarification behind the act. They were even detained by the villagers for nearly an hour. The station manager identified as Dipak Kumar Majhi received injuries in the incident. The incident triggered chaos in the area.

Majhi and other employees were released after the intervention of some villagers who persuaded the accused to set them free. The matter was later reported to the local police station. Police reached the spot and started a probe. They are yet to arrest anybody. The Power department officials with assistance from the district police will carry out a search operation to identify the areas where power tapping might have taken place. The officials are often heckled when they go to check such incidents of power theft in the rural areas. Top brass of the department often complain of power tapping leading to a huge loss in the government's exchequer. The district police have, however, initiated a detailed probe in connection with the incident.