Thief breaks into east Delhi post office, finds only ₹487

An unidentified person broke open a hole in the wall of a post office in east Delhi in the hope of bagging a fortune, but could found ₹487 in the cash chest, police said on Tuesday.

Whoever carried out the heist, left without spotting a bag containing a tad larger amount – about ₹5,000 – lying in a bag nearby, said Amit Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara district).

The hole in the wall is only about two feet wide and one foot long, prompting investigators to suspect that it was a slim, minor boy who entered the post office, said the DCP. The investigators, however, are yet to find any clues about the suspect.

According to the DCP, the post office operates out of a dilapidated building in a housing complex of Mansarovar Park. A few shops operate from the front of this building.

The crime was reported around 8.30am on Monday when the sub-post master, Kuldeep Singh Verma, opened the post office. The post office was closed between this time and 5.30pm on Saturday.

While Verma refused to speak to HT about the incident, in his statement to the police he said that when he entered the post office, he found a hole in the wall and the cash chest opened. “A total of ₹487 was found stolen,” he said.

“It is likely that the dilapidated condition of the building gave the thief the idea to commit the theft. It wouldn’t have taken him much effort to break a hole in such a wall,” said the DCP.

“The hole is so narrow that only a slim child could have entered it. We are probing whether it is the role of an individual boy or he was used by someone to carry out the theft,” said the officer.

When the police reached the spot, they also found about ₹5,000 — all coins kept in a bag — left untouched. “This fact also strengthens our belief that the suspect is a minor who didn’t bother to check around before leaving the post office,” said another investigator.

“While large cash transactions take place at many post offices, it wasn’t the case here. But the thief probably didn’t know that,” said the officer.

There was no CCTV camera installed in the post office and footage from another one installed outside did not offer much help, said the investigator. “But we have spoken to our local informers and we hope to catch the suspect soon,” he said.