Postman hoards undelivered letters for a year; Aadhaar, PAN cards found in scrap
A postman in Ranchi has been suspended after authorities recovered a large cache of undelivered letters containing important documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards
A postman in Ranchi has been suspended after authorities recovered a large cache of undelivered letters containing important documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, bank records and legal notices that had been lying in sacks and scrap instead of reaching residents. The incident occurred on July 3 after residents complained that they had not received letters and official communications for several months. Following the complaints, the postal department launched an inquiry and identified the accused as Vikas Kumar, an Assistant Branch Post Master (APBM) posted at the Pithoria post office.
Officials suspect that the accused hoarded undelivered letters for nearly a year. Read Full Story During the investigation, Post Office Inspector Deepak Kumar recovered many undelivered documents from the postman's bag, and from sacks and scrap materials near the post office premises. The recovered items included Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, ATM cards, bank passbooks, and notices issued by the Lok Adalat and the Income Tax Department. Officials said the lapse may have caused serious inconvenience to residents, some of whom could have missed important financial and legal communications.
They are investigating why the accused accumulated the letters for such a long time. The postal department has suspended the postman and initiated a detailed probe to determine how long the documents had remained undelivered and whether any other officials were involved. Inspector Kumar said the accused postman had been posted at the Pithoria post office for around a year. "He has been posted for a year. We will have to check the exact records. We are still investigating whether the hoarding started after his posting or before that," Kumar said.
A video from near the post office premises shows the accused, appearing visibly distressed, being reprimanded by postal officials as the recovered letters and documents are examined. Inspector Kumar said strict action would be taken against those found responsible. He added that the department would conduct a special drive to identify all pending letters and documents and deliver them to their rightful recipients at the earliest. Ends
The BriefWire