53-year-old Vijay Kumar was travelling from Delhi's Shivaji Bridge railway station to go to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Khurja. Before leaving, he bought some ration and groceries to take home, along with withdrawing Rs 1 lakh to build a small house in his village.
As he boarded the train and loaded his ration on it, he forgot to carry the bag with his money, and left it on the railway station platform. Constable Narender Kumar, who was posted at the railway station during that time found the bag there, and tried to enquire with a few passengers to find the owner.
When he couldn't find the owner, he decided to wait for some time for the person looking for the bag to return to the station. He also found an Aadhar card, and some other things in the bag apart from the cash.
"I decided to keep the unclaimed bag with me. On checking it, I found two cash bundles amounting to ₹ 1 lakh with some rotis packed in a foil paper, water bottle, cheque book, bank passbook along with an Aadhar and ration card," he said in a statement to NDTV.
"I immediately informed my seniors about it and tried to get in touch with Vijay Kumar but when I was unable to get through to him, I decided to wait till someone comes to enquire about it," he said.
Kumar eventually arrived at the station looking for the money at around 6:30 in the evening. He was relieved to find that his bag was with the authorities who had taken care of it while he was away.
"When I got off at Anand Vihar station, I felt thirsty and that is when I realised that I had misplaced my thaila (bag). I panicked and was in tears because I had ₹ 1 lakh cash in it. This money was very important for me. I had been saving it to build a small house for my children," said Kumar.
He also added, "I am a poor man. For a labourer like me, ₹ 1 lakh is a huge amount. No one helped me when I requested a few of them at Anand Vihar station to keep my ration for a few hours until I return so that I could go find my money. I had lost all hopes but Narender babu was a saviour. He handed over my belongings and also got me boarded in the next train safely."
The constable's efforts to ensure that the bag reached its rightful owner are commendable!
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