Two instances of conservancy staff handing over gold jewellery, found on a street and in a garbage bin, to the police were reported. Their gesture was widely appreciated by many.
M. Mohanasundaram, 55 of Royapuram has been working as a conservancy staff in Zone-4 of the Chennai Corporation. On Thursday morning, he collected garbage from the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board quarters in Rangarajapuram, Korukkupet and carried it to Ekappan street for segregation. While he was busy in segregation, he found a bag containing gold jewellery in the bin. He immediately walked into the Korukkupet police station and gave the bag to police personnel to trace the owner of the items. By this time, an individual M. Muniyamma, 47, a resident of Slum Clearance Board quarters came to the station saying she had kept 10 sovereigns of gold jewellery at her house for her daughter’s wedding to be held on Friday but it was missing.
M. Mohanasundaram being honoured by Chennai Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal
Police inspector Thavamani verified the claim of Muniyamma and found the jewellery which was handed over by Mohanasundaram belonged to the complainant, and her version was true. Then gold jewellery was handed over to her. The woman told the police that she cleaned the house and binned the bag by mistake when Mohanasundaram came for the door-to-door collection.
In another instance, another conservancy staff member Rani, 37 spotted a glittering item in a pile of garbage on the side of fourth street, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Perungudi. She was surprised to see it was a gold chain. She made enquiries and no one came forward to claim it. After completing her regular work, she reported to her supervisor. On their advice, the gold chain was handed over to the police in Thoraipakkam.
Mr. Mohanasundaram and Ms. Rani were invited by Commissioner of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal and appreciated for their honesty. The Commissioner also rewarded them.
