Chhatarpur: A surprising case has come to light from Pichtarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Gautam Paswan, posted as Post Master in Barha village of Gaurihar district of the district, has been absconding for months with the money collected by the people of the village. The people of the village are feeling cheated by this incident, because both their trust and hard-earned money have been ruined.
Post master ran away with village money
Branch Post Master Gautam Paswan, working in India Post Payment Bank of Barha village, who is a resident of Bihar, is now missing from the village. The residents of the village say that they had given money to Gautam for different schemes and deposited it in their account. But instead of depositing the money, he kept it with himself.
Retired postman Miyadin Singh told that Gautam Paswan was the post master in Barha branch. The village people used to give him money for Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and other accounts. But he neither deposited the money in his account nor stayed in the village for long. Now he has fled to Bihar.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana lost money
Rakesh Kumar Lakhera of the village tells that my acquaintance Chhote Kushwaha had deposited an installment of Rs 10,000 under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. But now that money is not there. Gautam did not step into the village for many months. I complained about this to the authorities, but no action was taken.
Thousands of rupees lost, people worried
Retired Post Master Kallu Shukla told that we had given a passbook of Rs 8,000 to Gautam, but that money was not deposited. Many people of the village are suffering. This incident has badly affected people.
Devidin Sahu of the village said that I had given Rs 10,000 to be deposited, but it was not deposited. This is a big fraud, due to which we all are troubled.
Didn’t even pay rent, landlord also worried
Gautam Paswan had taken a room on rent in Ramphal Sahu’s house. Ramphal told that Gautam used to run India Post Payment Bank in our house. But seven months ago he ran away leaving his belongings behind. He neither paid the rent nor did anyone come to open the lock of the room. Officials said that he has fled to Bihar.
What are the officials saying?
Post office officials have confirmed that Gautam Paswan is no longer in the village and he is reported to have fled to Bihar. Officials say that they have started investigation in this matter.
Villagers hope for justice
The people of Barha village are hurt by this incident and are demanding strict action against Gautam Paswan. This incident raises serious questions on the lack of awareness and increasing cases of fraud in rural areas.
Tags: Chhattarpur news, Local18, Sukanya samriddhi scheme
FIRST PUBLISHED: January 8, 2025, 14:54 IST
