Dubai: A Pakistani bus driver in Dubai has been recognised for returning Dh52,000 left behind by a passenger, making it the third time the driver has returned cash and valuables forgotten by people.
Zahid Ali, 29, found a bag containing the money during a routine check of his bus in February, after all passengers had disembarked.
Ali, who drives a shuttle bus in Dubai Airport Free Zone, was recently awarded a certificate of appreciation from the free zone, presented by its director-general, Dr Mohammad Al Zarouni.
He also won compliments from Dubai Police and a Dh3,000 cash reward from the grateful Chinese businessman who had forgotten the bag on board.
“I didn’t want to take the cash reward but the passenger kept on insisting I take it. The fact that I could help him reunite with his money was reward enough for me,” Ali, who has three children, said.
As soon as Ali found the bag, he rushed to the police office in the free zone to hand over the bag, which also contained the passenger’s passport and business card. The police traced the passenger and handed over the bag to him.
“On the day I found the money, my wife had sent me a video that spoke about the religious duty of returning people’s belongings to them. When my family heard about what I had done, they were overjoyed. My children’s school rewarded them when they heard about the incident, as an appreciation and to serve as an inspiration to do good. ”
Ali added that in 2014, when he was working for the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), he found an envelope with Dh12,000, which he was about to bin because he thought it was empty.
He said: “As I started crumpling it, I noticed the money. I immediately went to the police office in the RTA to hand it over. A Nepalese worker had reported the missing envelope and, after some confirmation, he got it back. It was his accumulated salary that he was taking back home, I was later informed. The RTA thanked me for returning it.”
Ali also said that in 2012 he returned a woman’s purse containing about Dh19,000-Dh20,000 left behind by a forgetful supermarket shopper in Sharjah, where he was working at a petrol station at the time.
“My whole point in sharing these stories is not to praise myself. I want to remind people that honesty brings a good reputation to you and your country while dishonesty only brings shame.”
