JK: Meet Javed Ahmed, a humble auto driver who returned phone worth Rs 1.5 Lakh to owner

A few days ago, a photo of Javed Ahmed, a resident of Srinagar, went viral on social networking sites. The details attached with the photo appreciated Ahmed for returning a valuable phone belonging to a non-local journalist. ETV Bharat traced Ahmed and tried to find out the whole story.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Speaking to ETV Bharat, Ahmed said that he belongs to a humble family and has two children. His father died of Renal Cell Cancer while his mother too, has been not doing well for a very long time.

"It has become very difficult for me to make both ends meet. There is not much work in the Valley due to continuous lockdown here. First after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A, then due to pandemic, "Ahmed, who drives an auto-rickshaw in Srinagar city, said.

Ahmed feels hopeful since the tourists are now again visiting Kashmir,

"Tourists have now started coming here again. We are hopeful that our income will get a humble boost," he said.

On his photo going viral, he said, "After a long wait, I was lucky to get a non-local female passenger. She hired me for visiting Shankar Acharya Temple, Badami Bagh and other tourist places in the city. Few moments after I dropped her back at the pickup location (Botanical Garden), I felt thirsty and as such reached out to the back seat of my auto. I found an iPhone there."

He further said, "I realised that the phone belongs to the lady and she might have dropped it in my auto. With no other thought, I took a U-turn towards her place so that I could hand over the phone to her."

Meanwhile, Ahmed received a call on that phone which he answered and assured the caller that he is on his way to the pick-up point.

"I told the caller that her phone was safe and I was coming back to her place. When I got there, her colleague was waiting for me. I handed over the phone to him. He thanked me while saying that the phone cost around Rs 1.5 lakh. Though the price hardly mattered to me. The very next day she met me and thanked me and uploaded my photo on social media."

Ahmed believes that it was his duty and no Kashmiri wants to bring a bad name to his homeland.

"People who come to the valley are our guests. My late father used to say always do good and I did that. In today's time phones are very important as it has valuable data which no one wants to lose. That's why returning at an earliest was my priority," he said.