Not often you come across a bag full of money sitting on the road. But when such an incident happens, your honesty is the first thing that gets tested. A few weeks ago Ali Mohamamd Parra, 46 – a transporter from Pattan in Baramulla, experienced one such moment when he found a small hand bag containing nearly three lakh rupees on the road in Assistant Regional Transport Office (ARTO) Sopore.
He returned the cash to its rightful owner.
It was Friday and Namaz time, and just when Parra was getting down from his car at ARTO he saw a small hand bag lying on the road. “I picked it up and it appeared that the bag contains documents but when I opened I was taken aback to see so much of cash in the bag,” Parra told Kashmir Life. He asked many people that whether they have lost the bag but no one owned it. “After I counted the cash it contained Rs 284110,” Parra said.
Later in the day he sent a note to a local daily to make the information public. Same day he got a call from a person from Magam area of Budgam who claimed to be the rightful owner of the bag. “He sounded terrified on phone,” Parra said. “His voice made him appear reliable and I told him to meet me at ARTO Sopore next day.”
According to Parra, the person told him that he had raised the money after selling his vehicle for his sister’s marriage scheduled after the festival of Eid.
They met at ARTO Sopore the next day. Parra handed over the cash to the claimant after confirmation. “He revealed the marks which matched with the bag I had found,” Parra said. “There were lot of people around who witnessed the moment when I handed over his cash.”
Parra, owns a small scale transport company in Pattan town. Parra says that he returned the cash to set an example of honesty. “Allah has given me enough. It was test of my faith and by performing this deed I tried to please Allah,” Parra said. “It feels good that Allah gave me an opportunity to make someone happy.”
The story came into public many weeks after someone shared it on the social media. It got everyone talking and he was hailed as a true definition of Good Samaritan. He said that he did not publicise his act but someone came to know about it and posted it on the Facebook. Since then he has been receiving phone calls, from known and unknown people, congratulating him for his honesty.
– Zafar Aafaq
