Autorickshaw drivers in Madurai return bag with gold

Autorickshaw drivers V. Ganapathi Pandian and A. Lawerence (second from right) returning 37 sovereigns of gold which they found lying on the road, to the owners at K.K. Nagar on Friday. Photo: G. Moorthy

An aged couple were shocked to lose a travel bag containing 37 sovereigns of gold near MGR statue junction in K.K. Nagar on Friday.

The bag, which retired postmaster K.S. Balasubramanian had kept near his feet in the scooterette, slipped while negotiating a curve at around 7 p.m. Mr. Balasubramanian and his wife Pappa, who retired from BSNL, searched for the bag after parking the two-wheeler. As they started searching for it, some of the bystanders told them that they saw the bag getting entangled in a cargo autorickshaw that was following their two-wheeler. Panicked over the missing valuables, the couple rushed to the Anna Nagar police station nearby.

Immediately, the police issued an alert over the wireless sets about the missing bag and the autorickshaw.

Meanwhile, two autorickshaw drivers, V. Ganapathi Pandian, and A. Lawrence, both in their 50s, came to the police station with the bag much to the delight of the couple and relief of the police. “We had alerted the entire city and patrol teams were already moving in search of the cargo vehicle,” Inspector of Police P. Murugadasson said.

Mr. Pandian said they found the bag lying on the road in front of the district court. They secured the bag. After informing the people near the auto-stand to hand over the bag if someone came in search of it, both the drivers left on their usual trips.

On their return, they found the bag still lying at the stand.

“I opened the bag with the intention of finding some papers containing the address or phone number of the owner. However, we were shocked to see the gold ornaments kept in different boxes,” said Mr. Ganapathi, a father of three children.

He and Mr. Lawrence, father of three daughters, decided to hand it over to the police giving a fairy tale end to the woes of the couple who had lost their hard-earned jewels.

The couple had returned from Tirunelveli after visiting their daughter. “Fearing burglary incidents, we decided to carry the gold with us. But, we never imagined that we will lose it,” Mr. Balasubramanian said.

Anna Nagar Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) S. Narayanan, appreciated the honest auto-drivers. The Commissioner of Police will honour both the drivers, the Inspector of Police said.