Had he quietly kept back the bag filled with gold, diamonds and cash, which he found in his rickshaw, he could have had a far better life than what he led in his shanty and hoped for proper treatment for his ailing son. But his honesty far superseded the "easy but deceitful way out".
Mantu Saha (54), a rickshaw-puller in Howrah, returned a bag filled with diamond and gold jewellery, worth Rs 2.98 lakh, and Rs 60,000 in cash to a commuter, who left it behind when she alighted near her Liluah home on Friday evening.
Overwhelmed by his honesty, Rukmini Devi (58), a Dubai resident, gifted Mantu Rs 10,000 and promised to fulfil his request to buy an auto or Toto by sending him a cheque on her return to Dubai.
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After visiting a relative near Howrah's Bajrang Bali Market on Friday afternoon, Rukmini had bought the ornaments from a shop in the area.
Thereafter, she took Mantu's rickshaw to her home at Liluah. She realized she had left the bag behind only after entering her flat. She immediately rushed to the Belur police stationand lodged a missing diary.
Mantu, meanwhile, had returned to his home at a slum near Belur Simultala Ghat and he noticed the bag on the seat. He went inside his shanty, which has a mud floor and tally roof with a tarpaulin sheet covering the broken part, and showed the contents to his wife, Anu.
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Without wasting time, the couple decided to visit the Belur police station together and deposit the bag there. Mantu and Anu have two sons and two daughters. One of the sons has an ailment which Mantu couldn't explain but said the boy needed blood transfusion.
After the couple arrived at the police station, Belur OC Swapan Saha called Rukmini back. Finding the contents intact, Rukmini was so impressed with Mantu's honesty that she immediately gave him Rs 10,000.
Thanking him over and over again, she asked him what else she could do for him, when Mantu said if he could drive an auto or an e-rickshaw, it would financially uplift him and his family. Rukmini, who was slated for her return-flight to Dubai on Saturday morning, promised Mantu to send him a cheque through the OC so that he could buy the vehicle.