NEW DELHI - A postal worker in India has been suspended after he was found not to have delivered thousands of letters for more than 10 years.
Ever wondered why you never heard back from that job offer, that ATM card application or never got mail from someone you really wanted to hear from?
Well, if you're in the Odhanga village in India's Orissa state, there's a good chance that letter was in fact sent.
It was just never delivered, piling up with countless other undelivered mail.
The stash of old letters and packages was discovered by chance when a group of school children played in the recently abandoned post office after the branch had moved to a new location.
Playing in the yard, they noticed large bags with letters sticking out, local media report.
When they looked inside and discovered ATM cards and bank passbooks, they alerted their parents and soon the authorities were on the case.
According to the Hindustan Times newspaper, it's thought there are some 6,000 letters and packages with the oldest dating back as far as 2004.
Some 1,500 letters have been salvaged while many of the remaining items are soggy or damaged by termites.
The reluctant mailman is named as Jagannath Puhan, assistant branch post master, who for most of the past decade was alone in charge at the village office.(FA)
