ITANAGAR, Oct 3: Even after four years of allegedly having been swindled off his earnings by officials of the Chowkham sub-post office in Namsai district in 2016, retired veterinary doctor RK Vershney is yet to receive his claims.
Requesting the director of postal services (DPS) here for immediate disbursement of his “remaining justified claims without further delay,” Dr Vershney said “the director of postal services, Itanagar, sanctioned and issued a cheque dated 23.09.2020 for an amount of Rs 4,86,987 against one of my recurring deposit accounts, which was earlier told by the then DPS Ashok Pal, Itanagar, in his RTI reply dated 23.10.18 that the above claim for Rs 4,00,000 (excluding interest) is presently not justified and it will be entertained based on the conclusions of departmental as well as CBI inquiry.
“In my other account, the DPS Itanagar stated that the claims against my monthly income savings account and the recurring deposit account – both the claims are justified,” he said.
Dr Vershney had claimed that he was duped by Ranjana Singh, the then SPM of the Chowkham post office, out of an amount in excess of Rs 8,50,000 in total (not including interest) in 2016. He had complained to the DPS in Itanagar and the CPMG in Shillong as soon as the fraud came to his notice, and has been running from pillar to post since 2016.
In 2018, the chief post master general’s (CPMG) office in Shillong had instructed restoration of Dr RK Vershney’s money in connection with the alleged Chongkham post office fraud.
He had also written to the HRD, telecommunication, electronics & IT minister on 5 May, 2019, informing that “this matter is under investigation and is pending since three years and two months.”
While he has received part of the claims after multiple follow-ups, Dr Vershney claimed that the DPS in Itanagar “has failed to restore the remaining justified claims, even after a lapse of two years.”