Bhopal, Sept 15: Bhagwan Das, a railway coach attendant aboard 2156 Nizamuddin-Habibganj (Bhopal) Express had the shock of his life on Thursday morning when the train reached Bhopal station.
He found a bag lying on the upper berth of 'C' coupe of H-1 AC First class coach booked in the name of Congress MP Sandip Dikshit and wife Mona Dikshit.
The couple had left the coupe and had obviously forgotten to take the bag containing the moolah, all in Rs 1000 currency notes.
Bhagwan Das rushed and called in a mechanic, who in turn brought RPF constables to attend to the 'abandoned' bag, what with terrorists carrying out blasts from bags nowadays.
The RPF constables gingerly touched the bag, found wads of currency notes inside and took it to the GRP (government railway police) at Bhopal railway station.
Soon after, a man calling himself Mr Mathur came to the GRP to pick up the bag, but the GRP officials refused to hand over the bag to him. The man said he was an 'attendant' travelling with Congress MP Sandip Dikshit.
The GRP official told Mathur to ask Sandip Dikshit to come personally so that the bag could be returned to him, but three hours after the incident, Dikshit was yet to reach the GRP.
The currency notes have been seized and will be sent to court if the MP doesn't come and collects it, said the GRP official.
Coach attendant Bhagwan Das says, he was impressed with the principles of Gandhian Anna Hazare, and decided to do a day's honest work by handing over the moolah to the officials.
"The railways give me enough salary to look after my family. I don't need so much ill-gotten money", Bhagwan Das told India TV at Bhopal Railway station.
Later, Congress MP Sandip Dikshit told India TV over phone that the money belonged to a businessman friend of his, who had kept the bag with him for safekeeping, but forgot to collect it in the morning.
"This is not my money. The bag was kept in my coupe by a friend of mine for safekeeping", Dikshit said.
In New Delhi, Railways today announced a cash award of Rs 2000 for coach attendant Bhagwan Das who found a bag containing Rs ten lakh in a AC First Class coupe of Bhopal Express train, in which Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit had travelled, for his honesty.
After detecting the bag containing Rs 10 lakh in the coupe after its arrival in the morning, Das handed over the same to GRP.
“The General Manager of West Central Railways G N Asthana annouced a cash reward of Rs 2000 for coach attendant Bhagwan Das for showing utmost honesty and sincerity in work,” a spokesperson of WC Railway told PTI.
His name will also be proposed to the Railway Minister Award he said.
The bag containing Rs 10 lakh in cash was recovered in the coupe of Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit in a first class air-conditioned coach of Bhopal Express in which he was travelling from Delhi.
About the fate of the bag, the spokesperson said “now railways have no role as the bag has been handed to police. So, now it is between the claimant of the money and the police.” PTI
