If you can't deliver it, junk it: Postman sells letters, documents to scrap dealer

A postman in Indore has allegedly sold hundreds of letters, including those containing bills and insurance intimations, to a waste paper dealer instead of delivering them.

The postal department launched a probe against the postman after the matter was brought to light by shocked people of Navlakha area here. Police have seized letters and other material from the waste dealer, Director of Postal Services Madhvi Dabral told reporters.

Letters, intimations from Life Insurance Corporation, magazines and documents like telephone bills weighing nearly three kilograms were allegedly sold by the postman to scrap dealer Azam recently. Azam has said the same postman allegedly sold him such letters earlier too.

Nearly 250 letters were found in Azam's shop and all of them were posted after June 15, Dabral said.

A two-member committee of the postal department will submit its report on the matter and only then will authorities disclose the name of the accused postman though the department has already identified him.

The postal department is also informing banks and other institutions and urging them to re-issue the documents and to waive any late fees if possible. In case this is not possible, the postal department will bear the costs, Dabral said.

"Definitely, the incident has damaged the reputation of the department and we are taking all possible steps to regain the trust of people in the postman," Dabral said, adding this was the first time such an incident had come to her notice.