Restoring lost items to rightful owners

The Lost and Found Section of Dubai Police is as wondrous as Aladdin's cave, as well as closely guarded.

But those who can gain entry, mainly police personnel and those who have come to claim lost property, will be faced with items ranging from household goods, mobile phones, clothing, gold jewellery to cash.

They find their way to the section through the honesty of those who find them. But many a time, the owners do not reclaim them. Perhaps due to indifference or perhaps because they have given up hope of finding them. Or many of them do not know that such a section exists.

"The section has been in existence since the formation of Dubai Police," said Lieutenant Sulaiman Abdullah Al Shaibani, Head of the section.

"We basically categorise the items we find into three types. The first is all types of documents like health cards, passports, labour cards, cheques and all types of personal documents. The second type is jewellery, mostly gold and silver, and currencies from all over the world."

The rest of the stuff they find, such as electrical appliances, mobile phones, clothes, and bags, are categorised under the third sector.

According to Lt Al Shaibani, when they receive the items, they do their best to contact the owners.

"This is our most difficult task. We look for anything that can give us a clue about the owner. So if we find something, we contact them. But usually there are no contact details," he said.

The section keeps the items found for a period of six months after which they take some procedures.

"All the documents are handed over to the relevant authorities. For example, the health cards are handed over to the Ministry of Health while the passports are handed over to the embassies or diplomatic missions," he said.