Rs20 lakh gems couldn’t shake this auto driver's honesty

Faith in honesty being the best policy can still be found in the most unlikely quarters. Auto-rickshaw driver Mohammad Sakir Ansari has become a hero to his friends and relatives for returning a bag with diamonds worth Rs20 lakh that belonged to a passenger.
Ansari, 35, has been an auto-driver for the past 15 years. Living in Gomtipur, he looks after his two children, ailing parents and wife, who suffers from a thyroid problem.

On Saturday, he picked up a passenger at around 4:15 am from Kalupur station. The passenger, Rupesh Jain, had just alighted from Lok Shakti Express and wanted to go towards Sterling Hospital.

Jain passed his water bottle and bag to the driver and followed him out of the railway station. On reaching his auto, Ansari assumed that Jain had climbed into his vehicle. He, therefore, started the auto and drove away.

Only when he reached Dilli Darwaza did he notice that the passenger was not in his vehicle. Ansari returned to Kalupur station and informed the railway police about the missing passengers. He waited for 15 minutes at the station but no one came to claim the bag. "I was quite scared. I thought there could be a bomb in the bag," he said. Little did he know that the bag was full of diamonds.

After discussing the matter with his friends, Ansari went to Kalupur police station to return the bag and met police inspector DS Patel there. Coincidentally, Jain was also at the police station to register a complaint about his lost bag. He was asked to check the bag to see if the contents were intact. When Ansari was asked why he didn't open the bag, he replied, "I am poor but not greedy. I fear Allah."

Patel appreciated Ansari's honesty and praised him for it. Ansari was awarded Rs500 by the police department and another Rs500 by Jain.