Mangaluru: Mr Postman, Where is My Mail? 4K Undelivered Letters Stacked in Postman’s House

Mangaluru: “Please Mister Postman, look and see – Is there a letter, a letter for me? I’ve been standing here waiting Mr. Postman, oh, so patiently – For just a card or just a letter – Please, Mr. Postman, oh yeah, Is there a letter, a letter for me? So many days you passed me by, See the tears standin’ in my eyes, You didn’t stop to make me feel better, By leaving me a card or a letter”. These are lyrics from the song “Mr Postman” by the English pop group, The Carpenters. How would I get my letters/bills when the postman delivering them has been stacking them at his residence, instead of delivering to the customers. My residence falls under Kodialbail Post Office where all our mails are delivered.

But today I came to know that Ashok, aged 30, employed as a postman at Kodialbail Post Office has not been delivering letters to people. Instead, he has stored them at his house – over 4000 undelivered mail were found in his house, including bills, Aadhaar cards, letters, greeting/wedding invitation cards, etc. It’s a discovery worthy of a murder mystery, inside this postman’s house where investigators find..a note? A body? Not really, but stack of letters undelivered since two years. But the postal department authorities were not aware about this since none of their postal customers had complained about missing mail/letters. For a mail-sack slacker, there’s a dark allure to hoarding junk. Think about it: If someone’s mail with Aadhaar card or passport or credit card bills doesn’t show up, they’re liable to complain. But if the umpteenth department or grocery store catalogs don’t arrive, well…who’s gonna notice?

According to sources, this incident came to light few weeks ago. When Ashok who was staying in a rented house in Surathkal was behind in making rent payments, the house owner decided to throw him out of the house. The house owner breaking open Ashok’s house door was surprised to see a stack of letters, thousands of them. He quickly alerted the postal department authorities. When postal dept. investigators went through the undelivered letters, they found mails of both Kodialbail and Mukka jurisdictions at the residence of postman Ashok.

It is learnt that Ashok had joined as a Grameen Daka Sevak at the Mukka Post Office, but in June 2015, he was promoted as postman at Kodialbail Post Office-Mangaluru after he successfully passed the postal department exam. No one doubted on Ashok since he was prompt in delivering registered posts, speed posts and money orders, and no one had any complaints against him until recently when this incident came to light. Ashok has been suspended from duty, and if the department finds him guilty, he will be terminated from job, according to postal officer at Mangaluru postal division.

In the meantime, all the undelivered letters found at Ashok’s house are being delivered to respective customers. Also, the department is verifying all the letters delivered by Ashok during the past six months. It is advisable, if your residence comes under Kodialbail Post Office, that you visit this location and check if any of the missing letters belong to you. The recent discovery in Surathkal of old stash of letters at postman’s Ashok’s house was not exactly unprecedented, there could have been many such kinds of postmen who have done exactly what Ashok did – who knows? The only solution is that we need sincere, dedicated and committed postmen to deliver our letters/bills in time.

Note: Photos used for illustration only