Mangaluru, Nov 28: Following the discovery of stacks of undelivered letters from several years in the house of a postman employed in a post office near Suratkal, the higher officials of the postal department have ordered the suspension of the postman till an inquiry is conducted in this regard.
Officials from the concerned postal department have recently seized nearly ten sacks of undelivered postal letters from his rented house in Meenakaliya. Later, he was made to deliver seized postal letters in the particular post office limits in a matter of 15 days.
Working as an ED staff in the postal department from 2008 onwards, Ashok had been residing in a rented house in Meenakaliya. In December 2014, he appeared for an examination conducted by the postal department and became a permanent employee. Thereafter he began working as a postman for Kodialbail post office.
The stash of undelivered letters was discovered when the owner of the rented house Geeta Kulal broke open the door of the house since Ashok had failed to pay her the rent for several months. On finding the heaps of letters, she immediately informed the postal authorities.
It is said that nearly ten sacks of letters were discovered from the house, stacked in heaps and causing damage to the walls and rooms. Out of these, almost four sacks of letters were notices or intimations to various meetings of several organisations, said the owner of the house.
Postal seals altered
Recently when higher postal officials had visited houses to check into the delivery of letters by Ashok, they found that he had even altered the seal bearing a date from 2013 on letters to 2015.
The locals in the post office limits have alleged that the postal officials conducting the inquiry had presumed that Ashok had not delivered most letters from the year 2013, although the locals had informed them of the non-delivery of letters from 2010.
Senior postal officer from Mangaluru Jagadish Pai said that the postman Ashok had been suspended from service till the enquiry against him was conducted on the grounds of dereliction of duty. Appropriate action will be taken against him if the charges are found true. This postman has not neglected to deliver money orders, registered post and speed post to their recipients. He has only neglected to deliver ordinary posts such as letters. Moreover, up to ten sacks of letters were not found in his house as claimed, he said.
However, a resident named Purushotham Devadiga alleged that although he had not received letters or notices sent by post from the Suratkal society from the past three years, the higher officials were trying to shield the postman who has shamed the postal department. Several residents have been inconvenienced due to non-delivery of their respective Aadhar cards, cheques or job offer letters. This scam should be thoroughly investigated and the postman should be permanently removed from his post, he urged.
Another resident Ali urged proper action against the erring postman.
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