Dhaka auto-rickshaw driver returns Tk 24,000 and laptop to passenger
A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver in Dhaka has set an example of honesty by returning a bag -- containing Tk 24,000 in cash, a laptop and land deeds -- to the passenger who had mistakenly left it behind in the vehicle.
AKM Shamsuzzaman, former director of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), left the bag when auto-rickshaw driver Suruj Ali, 51, dropped him off in Rupnagar of Pallabi in the capital on January 20.
After some time, Suraj noticed the bag and started looking for the passenger, but he was not sure who the passenger might have been, he said while talking to The Daily Star.
Suraj finally decided to retrace his steps and went back to Hare road, where he had dropped off his last passenger. Suraj failed to find anyone there.
At one stage, he finally opened the bag and found the laptop, cash and land deeds. He also found an address.
Suruj then went to the address which led him to Rupnagar Residential Area, where he met Shamsuzzaman and returned the bag to him
Talking to The Daily Star, Shamsuzzaman said he boarded the CNG from Lalmatia around 10am. When he finally reached his destination, he forgot about the bag he was carrying.
"I lost the bag and got into trouble. Without it, there would be a lot of damage,” he said, adding he was glad there were good people like Suraj in the country.
Suraj Ali told The Daily Star, “Whoever loses, he understands. So, I thought I needed to find the owner of the bag.
“I opened the bag and saw the laptop and land deeds. What will I do with those? I did not want to tarnish my reputation by stealing. "
Suraj, a residence of Jamsat village in Katiadi upazila of Kishoreganj, came to Dhaka three decades earlier and has been an auto-rickshaw driver since.
For all his honesty, Suraj maintained that he did not hope for nor want any reward.
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