Delhi: Honest cabbie returns bag with 8 lakh valuables

New Delhi: Acting as a Good Samaritan, a 24-year-old “kaali-peeli” or “black and yellow” taxi driver, Debendra Kapri, walked into the domestic airport police station on Wednesday evening and returned a bag containing valuables and cash.

The officer manning the reception desk was shocked when he found that the bag contained gold jewellery, a laptop, an iPhone, a camera, US currency and other important documents. The items are estimated to be worth Rs 8 lakh Mr Kapri told the policeman that he had come to return the bag that belonged to a passenger who had forgotten it in his cab. He said that he had dropped the passenger in Central Delhi’s Paharganj area, but did not know the passenger’s identity or where he went from Paharganj.

“I was impressed with the honesty shown by Kapri. He knew the value of the items in the bag, but decided to return it,” said the officer.

Sanjay Bhatia, the deputy commissioner of police (IGI), said that the duty officer alerted the station house officer (SHO) who in turn informed him about the matter.

Mr Kapri said that after dropping the passenger outside a hotel in Paharganj, he returned to Connaught Place area. He was cleaning the windowpanes of his Maruti Esteem car when he saw a backpack lying on the rear seat.

“I opened the bag and found some documents, cash, jewellery, and electronic items. I was caught in a dilemma over how to return the bag to its rightful owner since I did not know in which hotel the passenger was staying. So I decided to hand it over to the police,” said Mr Kapri, who came to Delhi for his livelihood four years ago from Banka district in Bihar.

The police found a wedding card in the bag with a mobile number on it. They contacted the number which happened to belong to the passenger’s brother. When he was informed about the incident, he said that his brother had an interview at the US embassy in Delhi for his visa. The police asked him to inform his brother in Delhi about it.

As the police personnel were making a list of the items in the bag on a piece of paper, Mr Kapri stood by and ensured that no item was misplaced. “I insisted that the list should be made in my presence and even requested for a copy of the list. I wanted to keep it as a proof so that if by any chance the owner of the bag found me and asked me to return the bag, I could prove that his belongings were safe in the police custody,” said Mr Kapri.

When the owner of the bag arrived at the police station to claim his belongings, he appreciated the taxi driver’s honesty. The police has recommended that the driver be given a cash reward for his honesty.