By IANS,
New Delhi : The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is set to reward three of its men who returned Rs.2.2 lakh left behind by a Delhi Metro commuter — and politely declined to take any money from the grateful man.
“The entire team of three will be rewarded with cash and a good entry in the service book,” CISF spokesperson Rohit Katiyar told IANS Wednesday. “Our men routinely return valuables but this time it was a huge amount.”
The incident happened at the Green Park Metro station in south Delhi Monday when a commuter in a hurry forgot to collect one of his bags from the x-ray scanner.
On duty were constables K. Venkatesh and Sundar Singh Pathania and their team leader, Assistant Sub-Inspector Devendra Sharma.
While one of them noticed the bag, it was left to Sharma to open it — and discover the wads of currency notes.
“The money was so much that we didn’t want to touch it,” said one of the men. “We promptly deposited the bag with the Metro station controller.”
Fortunately, there was a visiting card in the bag. And there was the CCTV camera to know who the bag owner was.
Within an hour, the profusely grateful man — whose identity was not revealed — rushed to the Green Park Metro station, with a prayer on his lips.
When he counted the money and found it had not been touched, he became emotional. He almost fainted.
“He fell at our feet, telling us that we were like god,” Sharma told IANS. “He asked us to take some of the money to buy sweets. We refused to take anything from him. We told him that we had done our duty.”
The man later told Delhi Metro officials that he was suffering from a severe attack of migraine because of which he was in a desperate hurry to catch the train — and thus forgot the bag.
Katiyar said the 4,600 CISF personnel deployed at Delhi Metro stations routinely discover a wide variety of articles and valuables left behind by forgetful men and women.
“We follow a standard procedure. The items are given to the station controller and an entry is made.
“Sometimes the things have no value such as a lunch box. But people leave behind their bags, wallets, even mobile phones.
“This is a daily happening. Our men do their best while at work. Not just at the Delhi Metro stations but at the Delhi airport too.”