Pickpockets find postboxes a safe haven to dispose stolen

Pickpockets seem to have discovered a novel method of disposing stolen wallets with ID cards finding the ubiquitous mail boxes a safe haven to deposit them, given the number of such cases the city postal department have come across in the past six months.

Pickpockets just drop off the wallets after taking the money from them but the cards remain intact, a senior official in the city's postal department told PTI.

The department has come across 70 such cases in the past six months in Chennai city corporation limits.

Postal staff have found ID cards such as Aadhaar and PAN besides driving licences in the wallets.

"The sub-postmasters in the post office concerned take the extra pain to ensure the cards are returned to the people to whom they belong.

Even though there is no income to the department (from this activity), they do it as a service to the citizens," the official said.

Postal staff inform those whose ID cards have contact numbers, asking them to collect it from the respective post office.

In case, no number is available, they put the ID cards in an envelope and despatch it to the address provided, he said.

Identity cards suspected to have gone missing also find their way to some post boxes which are duly forwarded to the rightful owners, the official said.

Recently, passports that were found from a postbox here were reportedly handed over to the Regional Passport Office.