Happy endings: Lost by tourists, found by Dubai Police

DUBAI: When Dubai Police scoured the sea bed on April 12 to retrieve an expensive watch which had slipped off a tourist’s wrist, it wasn’t the first time that they had surprised a holidayer by reuniting him with his lost items.

Gulf News rounds up 8 recent instances where the men in green have gone that extra mile to bring the smiles back on the faces of tourists who lost their belongings in the city.

NAT-Sudan_passport_1-(Read-Only) — Sudanese passport. For illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Supplied

1) Passport found in record time

April 2019: Sudanese Yahiya Abdul weighed his options after realizing that he’d forgotten his passport in a taxi on the day he was scheduled to fly out of Dubai. He contemplated approaching his embassy for a temporary travel document or applying for a new passport. Instead, he contacted Dubai Police which worked with the Road Transport Authority to find and return his passport within 30 minutes.

NAT-190424-MARRIAGE-CERT_MF-(Read-Only) — For illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Agency.

2) Marriage certificate found after 4 months

November 2018: A German was left stunned when Dubai Police found his marriage certificate which had been missing for four months. Not sure where he might have misplaced the important document, the man took a chance and wrote to Dubai Police with details of the hotel he had booked during a trip to the city several months ago.

Sure enough he was overjoyed when the police delivered him the marriage certificate which he had almost lost hope of ever finding again.

16 ,607

calls were received by RTA in 2018 for lost cellphones and 7,878 for travel bags

NAT-190424-IPAD_MF-(Read-Only) — For illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Agency

3) iPad safe and sound

October, 2018: After a memorable trip, a tourist returned to her home country only to realise that her iPad had gone missing. She rang up the hotel where she had stayed but was told the device wasn’t in her room. Suspecting it had been stolen, she called Dubai Police which promptly sent a team to the hotel room which, fortuntately, hadn’t been used since the tourist had checked out. After a thorough search, the police found the iPad. It was inside a locked safe.

NAT-190424-DUBAI-POLICE-NO-4-GOLD-BRACELET-(Read-Only) — Dubai Police returning the gold bracelet to the owner. Image Credit: Supplied

4) Gold bracelet for lunch!

September, 2018: Before heading to Dubai International Airport, an Indian family stopped by at a restaurant for lunch. The mood was somber as they had lost a gold bracelet the previous day. They were in the middle of a meal when a police team surprised them by showing up at the eatery with the missing jewellery. As it turned out, the family had misplaced the bracelet during a desert safari. It was found by the police in the car hired by the family for the trip. The police not only returned it but also presented the family family with gifts for their visit to Dubai.

68 ,929

calls were made to the Road Transport Authority in 2018 to report lost items

NAT-190424-DUBAI-POLICE-NO-5-STOLEN-WALLET-(Read-Only) — Dubai Police talking to the owner of the missing wallet. Image Credit: Supplied

5) Citywide search for missing wallet

September 2018: American tourist Daine Mary Arwen was left crestfallen when she lost her wallet during a trip to Dubai. Since she had stopped at several tourist stops, she couldn’t quite recollect where she might have misplaced the wallet which contained cash and credit cards.

A police patrol took her on a search mission, halting at and checking all the places she had visited. They started from a restaurant in Burj Khalifa, covering Umm Suqeim beach, The Palm Jumeirah besides several other places before discovering the wallet. It was logged in the lost and found register of a five star hotel. .

542

computers and 872 sunglasses were left behind in public transport by forgetful passengers in 2018

NAT-190424-DIAMOND_MF-(Read-Only) diamond ring — For illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Agency

6) Diamond ring forgotten on plane

July 2018: A woman who lost her $150,000 diamond ring while travelling to Dubai for a layover couldn’t believe her eyes when Dubai Police officers had it safely returned to her.

The woman was shopping at Dubai Airport’s Duty Free section when she suddenly realised that she had forgotten her expensive ring in the rear seat pocket of her seat in a plane. She alerted Dubai police before continuing her journey. On her return when she again stopped in Dubai, the guards at the airport terminal were waiting for her with the lost ring. .

65

per cent of the items lost in public transports were found.

7) Lost Dh100,000 Rolex delivered in London

NAT-190424-WATCH_MF-(Read-Only) — The lost Dh100,000 Rolex lost in Dubai, sent to owner in London. Image Credit: Supplied

December 2017: A Briton was left astonished when a member of Dubai Police showed up at her door in London to hand deliver a Dh100,000 Rolex watch that she had misplaced on a visit to the UAE. The woman had forgotten the expensive watch in her hotel room. The hotel staff reported it to Dubai police following which officers from the lost and found department contacted its owner saying she could collect it when she visits the UAE next. However when nine months passed, Dubai Police started exploring new ways to get the watch back to her. Luckily a delegation of Dubai Police officers were due to attend a conference in the UK and an officer was assigned the task of returning the watch to the owner.

1 ,136

calls were received last year for lost passports.

NAT-190424-DUBAI-POLICE-NO-8-PHONE-(Read-Only) — Owner with the returned iPhone 8. Image Credit: Supplied

8) Stolen phone returned to owner in Spain

September 2017: A Spanish tourist sent a heartfelt recorded video message to Dubai Police after they found her stolen phone and sent it back to her home country. The woman had contacted Dubai Police when her camera accidentally recorded a video of a hand sliding inside her bag and stealing the phone while she was on a safari trip. As soon as the police got her email, they swung into action, arrested the suspect and recovered the phone which was later sent to the woman.

With inputs from Ali Al Shouk, staff reporter

DID YOU KNOW

- Lost items which remain unclaimed for six months are auctioned and their proceeds [including lost cash] go to the government treasury.

- Mobile phones topped the list of items loston public transport last years, according to RTA (Road Transport Authority) call centre statistics for 2018.