Hyderabad: Honest auto-drivers win plaudits for returning lost gold, cash to owners

Hyderabad: Two auto-rickshaw drivers won accolades for their honesty in the city, with one returning a bag with 10 tolas of gold ornaments, while another returned a wallet that contained Rs 10,000 in cash and crucial documents.

Syed Zaker, 34, a resident of Muradnagar, had found a handbag around noon on Monday when he was driving around looking for passengers. The bag was found on the road near the PVNR Pillar No 55.

“I opened the handbag in hope of finding some contact number of the owner and found gold ornaments in it. I then went to the Langer Houz police and handed over the bag to them,” Zaker said.

Police said the bag owner Mirza Sultan Baig, who was going along with his wife on a motorcycle, had kept the bag on the fuel tank and lost it, after which they had approached the police.

“Later in the evening, we got a call saying the bag was found,” Sultan Baig said. On Tuesday, Langer Houz Inspector K Srinivas felicitated Zaker.

In the second incident, also on Monday, another auto-driver Haneef Khan proved his honesty by returning a wallet that had Rs 10,000 and identity documents that were forgotten by a passenger in Kukatpally.

The passenger, Tirumala Rao, an Indian Army jawan, had taken the cash from a bank and boarded Khan’s auto to go home in Kukatpally. “While getting down, he forgot the wallet in the vehicle and by the time he realised, the auto had left,” the Kukatpally police said.

Khan later found the wallet and immediately took it to the Kukatpally police, who took the Rao’s contact details from the wallet and called him.

Tirumala Rao and the police appreciated Khan for his honesty.