Postmaster dupes depositors of lakhs in Kandhamal

Kandhamal: The postmaster of Ranapatuli Post Office, Ramcharan Sethi, here has been accused of swindling deposits of people worth over two lakhs. The accused, who was nabbed by the depositors on Tuesday, allegedly took money from them but did not deposit in their accounts.

The matter came to fore after complaints started pouring in from the depositors who realised that not a single penny has been deposited in their accounts in the last few months.

According to sources, the depositors had been handing money to the postmaster since the day they opened their accounts.

However, when he did not turn up at the post office for months, the depositors were left in distress as they were unable to withdraw money from the post office.

A few days after, they went to the Block Head Post Office just to discover that they have been duped by the postmaster as no money was deposited in their accounts.

Irate over this, they somehow were able to nab the accused postmaster and lodged a complaint with the Assistant Superintendent at the Phulbani Head Post Office.

Interestingly, the postmaster could not refute the allegations and promised that he would return the money of the depositors soon.

The postmaster said, "Yes I have duped them. The amount is around Rs 2 lakh. I had no other option because I was in need of money. I will arrange and return their deposits as soon as possible."

On the other hand, the Assistant Superintendent did not comment anything on the issue.