Ranchi: Hundreds of crucial documents such as court notices, govt letters, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, bank passbooks and other mail gathered dust in a 25-year-old postal employee’s residence at Pithoria in Ranchi district for over a year as he allegedly failed to distribute them, prompting a departmental probe and his suspension, officials said on Sunday.Sources said that Vikas Kumar, working at the Pithoria sub-post office since Dec 2025, claimed he was unable to locate the addresses of several recipients. However, officials pointed out that postal rules require undelivered articles to be returned to the post office. “He is mentally sound and fully fit,” a source said, adding that investigators are examining whether there was any malafide intention behind his actions.The stockpiling of letters surfaced after persistent complaints from residents about the non-receipt of important documents. Villagers alleged the lapse had disrupted banking transactions, access to govt schemes and several other essential works.Acting on the complaints, a joint team of postal officials and police searched Kumar’s house on Friday and recovered around 400 undelivered postal articles. Among them were nearly 100 bank-related documents, many with incomplete or unclear addresses.The postal department has launched a special drive to deliver the recovered articles on a war footing, with officials hoping to deliver all by Monday.Senior superintendent of post offices (Ranchi division), B K Pandit, told TOI that an inspector-level officer has been assigned to conduct the inquiry. “The officer visited the sub-post office. The department will take further action based on his report. Everyone responsible for the laxity will be punished,” Pandit said.The incident has raised questions over supervisory mechanisms, where delivery records are supposed to be reviewed at multiple levels, including by the sub-postmaster.
