A rare act of honesty

For rickshaw-puller Akhtaruzzaman, the day started like any other.

He picked up some passengers in Sylhet city in the morning, dropped them off at their destinations and then looked for new ones.

In the afternoon, he reached Bandarbazar area in the city. Suddenly, he noticed a bundle of papers on a roadside. Upon a close inspection, it became clear to him that it was actually a bundle of taka.

The 60-year-old picked it up and started looking for the owner immediately.

Seeing no one around, he moved to nearby Zindabazar area. He saw a crowd gathered in front of the office of the Muktijodhha Command Council. There were also some policemen among the crowd.

He went to the spot and found out that two magistrates were conducting a mobile court drive in the area to evict illegal shops. He told the magistrates about his finding, said executive magistrate Sajjadul Hasan, also an assistant commissioner.

“The rickshaw-puller gave us the money and left. In total it was Tk 85,000. We wanted to know his address, but all he said his name is Akhtaruzzaman and he is from Netrakona,” said the magistrate.

His colleague, Umme Salik Rumaiya, echoed him.

Around 30 minutes later, a young man showed up and claimed that the money belonged to him.

Sajjadul Hasan said they quizzed the youth -- Rubel Hossain. He said he works at a fabrics factory in the area. He said he withdrew the money from Prime Bank's Laldighirpar branch.

After he returned, he realised that he had lost the money. It might have dropped from his pocket, he added.

The magistrates then took him to the bank and checked the CCTV footage. After verifying, they handed over the money to him.

Sajjadul Hasan said, “I asked the old rickshaw-puller why he was returning the money when no one saw him picking it up from the road. He replied he was happy with whatever God gave him.”

“This act of honesty is something we can all learn. We need more people like Akhtaruzzaman,” he added.