Taxi driver returned QR 111,000 to owner

Kikomodos
By Kikomodos

Taxi driver praised for returning bag containing QR111,000 By Ramesh Mathew (Gulf Times)

AN INDIAN taxi driver handed in a bag mistakenly left in his car by a passenger to find it contained QR111,000 in cash.

Balakrishna Shetty made the discovery a few days ago after giving a lift to an Arab national.

The modest driver, who works for the government-owned firm Mowasalat, said: “He is lucky that I found his bag before any other passengers boarded the car. Otherwise, things could have been different.”

Yesterday, Shetty’s bosses publicly commended the driver for his “honesty and dedication to work”. They presented him with a certificate and gifts.

According to company sources, Shetty, who comes from Mangalore in southern India and who has been working as a taxi driver for about two years, handed over the bag to the company’s main call centre in Mesaimeer, without even opening it.

It was only when one of the officials checked the bag in a bid to identify its owner that it was found to contain a number of valuables and a huge amount of money.
Shetty’s honesty was honoured at a special meeting, attended by Mowasalat executive director Ahmed Busherbek al-Mansouri as well as the senior business development director Ahmed al-Ansari, acting marketing manager Tim Garcia, and senior shift controller in the taxi department Asif Nazeer.

According to Mowasalat, it is not the first time that their employees have acted with such integrity.
In a statement, the company said: “This is only a part of the bigger things that we do regularly from maintaining our cars inside-out and bringing our passengers to their destinations safely and comfortably.”

In other cases of refreshing honesty, a taxi driver, called Shaly Dharmarajan, returned foreign currency worth QR16,000 to a visiting Switzerland-based Arab who had left it behind in a wallet after taking a cab ride to Doha’s City Centre in 2004.

Moved by the Gulf Times report on Dharmarajan’s honesty, a Western expatriate living in Doha gave him a cash reward of QR3,000 and a two-way ticket to his native India.

It was the second time Dharmarajan had been in the news; previously he had returned a Western expatriate’s wallet containing approximately QR2,500. It had taken him two days to find the owner.

By salaammk• 19 Jun 2008 11:28
salaammk

yes, he might have received the bonus..I am very lucky to hear that the driver is an indian,,,,he saved our country.

By Levis_501• 16 Jun 2008 23:09
Levis_501

Surely.. he will receive reward from heaven... keep up the good deeds Sir!

By QIssues• 16 Jun 2008 22:44
QIssues

I think that man forgot such amount of money after suffering under sun to get that cab,..the dream cab,..hehehehe...

well, honisty especially in poor people will stay will the end of time, otherwise humanity wil not survive,..

By kismet• 15 Jun 2008 11:28
Rating: 3/5
kismet

I wish I could say I'd be that honest... I can't say it though.

The buy is kind of a hero, especially that most probably he is poor...

What I don't understand is how could the owner not give anything to the guy???? That's plain rude.

Kismet

By harsha• 14 Jun 2008 13:44
harsha

honesty pays off well..

By anonymous• 14 Jun 2008 12:42
anonymous

I thought it was 11,000??

By mashayekhi• 14 Jun 2008 11:11
mashayekhi

Should all drivers do same.

A. M. Mashayekhi

By jbadar• 13 Jun 2008 10:58
jbadar

Good work Mowasalat PR...

By anonymous• 13 Jun 2008 10:37
anonymous

i think dat company should give him a reward

By nadt• 12 Jun 2008 23:39
nadt

Good to know theres honest people in the world, The fact that he returned the bag without even open the bag just shows how honest he is, most would at least take a peek..

Its funny how in this day and age we find it surprising that theres honest people in the world...

By abha• 12 Jun 2008 20:45
abha

Honesty has its own Reward..........................

Just Check with the Taxi Driver I'm sure that even if he had known that there is so much cash involved he would have surely returned it.

This is the way the world runs, 1 persons Honesty & the company makes it a publicity stunt.

*The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love..*

By tallg• 12 Jun 2008 11:26
Rating: 2/5
tallg

According to company sources, Shetty, who comes from Mangalore in southern India and who has been working as a taxi driver for about two years, handed over the bag to the company’s main call centre in Mesaimeer, without even opening it.

But would he have handed it in if he knew what was in it? That's a lot of money for a taxi driver!

In a statement, the company said: “This is only a part of the bigger things that we do regularly from maintaining our cars inside-out and bringing our passengers to their destinations safely and comfortably.”

Typical company trying to get some good publicity out of it! How has this incident got anything to do with maintaining the cars and transporting passengers safely? Surely they are the two of the first things you'd expect a taxi company to do!

By Bastook• 12 Jun 2008 09:03
Bastook

First of all that passenger had to have a lot on his mind to forget that money in a taxi.

and he should be thankful that the taxi driver was modest, good way to thank him by paying him 3 grands and a ticket,

In the Cookies of Life, FRIENDS are the Chocolate Chips

www.bastook.com

By Hokey-Pokey• 12 Jun 2008 08:24
Hokey-Pokey

I am thankfull that there are good honest people in the world. He did the right thing congrats to him... but my question is if you had that kind of cash in a bag would you really forget it in a cab?

By anonymous• 12 Jun 2008 08:16
anonymous

si il ne lui a rien donner dieu va lui donner .

By Kikomodos• 12 Jun 2008 07:49
Kikomodos

I heard the owner did not gave anything, but the company did gave bonus, gifts and a special recognition thingy...

By brandylady• 12 Jun 2008 07:47
Rating: 3/5
brandylady

like that deserves rewarding, as well as the company, I hope the person who had his money returned also gave him a reward.

By britexpat• 12 Jun 2008 07:45
britexpat

A role model for us all.. Hope the company gave him a bonus!

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