Postman relieved for ‘snail mail'

A poor postman appointed on master role basis faced the departmental wrath for an unusual delay of over 34 months to reach a letter to its destination at Nilphamari from Bangla Hili in Dinajpur district.

The ill-fated postman, Bipul Kumar Das working on master roll basis, was relieved of his duties by the Postal department in a bid to save face on Thursday, the date of publication of the news.

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Two separate inquiry committees were formed in Nilphamari and Dinajpur to investigate into the incident by the deputy postmaster general in Rangpur and Dinajpur. But it is amazing that the aforesaid postman was relieved before submission of the investigation report.

A source in the postal department told The Daily Star it is not possible to find out the exact reason of the delay as no register is maintained for ordinary letters. According to postal rule, the concerned staff may be fined 200 taka if found responsible for delay or missing of any registered letter.

Postal Inspector Ambar Ali who is also investigation officer of the incident told this correspondent that the delay might be due to negligence of the Railway Mail Service (RMS). The complainant and owner of Chowdhury Rice Mills, Rashidul Islam Chowdhury also echoed his voice.

Biplab Kumar Das, post master of Nilphamari Head Post Office already sent a letter to the Deputy Post Master General of Rangpur on Thursday stating that there was no delay in delivering the letter to the addressee here.

Amida Begum sent a letter from Bangla Hili to her father Asir Uddin Morol at Nilphamari on July13, 2001. The letter was delivered at Nilphamari on May 24, 2004 after death of the recipient 15 months back.