Battered with iron bar and robbed – now post office demands cash back
A robbery victim is now being chased by the Post Office for part of the cash.
Sub-postmaster Dilip Karavadra, 42, runs Upper Caldecote Sub-Post Office which was raided on December 9 last year.
Now the Post Office is claiming that he contributed to the loss by moving away from a hatch that the robbers jumped through.
Two raiders wearing balaclavas entered the subpost office in Hitchin Road at 11.40am. One of the assailants threatened the customers with a plank of wood while the other broke through the parcel point with a crowbar and attacked the sub-postmaster.
Mr Karavadra was beaten around the head and body with an iron bar, suffered a broken arm and spent several nights in hospital. The raiders escaped with £6,695.65.
Following an investigation by the Post Office, bosses claimed Mr Karavadra should have done more to stop the raiders and was keeping ‘excess counter cash’ in the branch.
The Post Office is trying to claim £3,000 from the sub postmaster.
Mr Karavadra said: "I am the victim of a crime, but the Post Office seems to think that I just opened the door and let these people in. They originally wanted me to compensate the full amount.
It is ridiculous.
"I could have been dead because of the attack. If I was, I wonder if the Post Office would be chasing my wife and family for the money.
"The only reason that I still run the sub-post office is because of the people in the villages. I have been here for six years and they have been so sympathetic after the incident." Mr Karavadra’s local MP Alistair Burt has taken up the case and intends to raise it in the House of Commons this week if the Post Office does not back down.
Mr Burt said: "Mr Karavadra was badly hurt in the raid and should have been hailed as a hero. He acted in the best interests of his customers, who were threatened by the armed men.
"But instead of thanking the heroic sub postmaster, the Post Office is mirroring every blow of the iron bar. It is currently hard enough to be a sub postmaster, without the risk that, if subjected to a violent assault, your employer will come to you looking for recompense to add to the injuries already suffered." A Post Office spokesman said: "We cannot go into details of a purely internal matter between us and our sub postmaster as no final decisions have yet been made and we are still looking sympathetically into the issue and taking full account of all of the circumstances.
"However, in general terms we take security very seriously and as part of our contract with sub postmasters we stipulate security standards which must be followed for the safety and security of all." Mr Karavadra has appealed the Post Office’s decision and this will be heard in St Albans on Thursday.
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Battered with iron bar and robbed – now post office demands cash back
Battered with iron bar and robbed – now post office demands cash back
Our sub-post offices are run like franchises. Normally, the premises is similar to a newsagents with all sorts of merchandise. The Postal part is in its own section of the shop with substantial security as a lot of money and documents are handled.
The sub-Postmaster invariably lives on the premises which will have a lease tied to the shop. This guy had been there for 6 years.
The sub-Postmaster invariably lives on the premises which will have a lease tied to the shop. This guy had been there for 6 years.
Battered with iron bar and robbed – now post office demands cash back
Diuretic wrote: If there is a responsible Minister (I think they are called "Secretary" in the UK?) then he or she might get a bit of flak and issue orders to call the dogs off. Unless they think this bloke was in on it they would be well advised to leave him alone.
Mr Karavadra’s local MP Alistair Burt has taken up the case and intends to raise it in the House of Commons this week if the Post Office does not back down.
From the article. Of course, it'll make the minister look good. But, as you suggest, the Post Office is a monopoly like structure at the moment, particularly where it deals with official government documents such vehicle licences. This situation is quickly changing, however, but I think the old nag tends to stick to the same lanes it always uses.
Mr Karavadra’s local MP Alistair Burt has taken up the case and intends to raise it in the House of Commons this week if the Post Office does not back down.
From the article. Of course, it'll make the minister look good. But, as you suggest, the Post Office is a monopoly like structure at the moment, particularly where it deals with official government documents such vehicle licences. This situation is quickly changing, however, but I think the old nag tends to stick to the same lanes it always uses.