With no shortage of frauds and swindlers all around, a fuchka (street food) vendor set a great example of honesty when he happened to find a half lakh takas on the street and decided to track down its owner to return it.
This rare act of decency and honesty came on a Thursday night from Belal Hossain of Kola village in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenaidah.
Abdur Rashid, whom the money belonged to, was very delighted to get back his money and said: "I am a small businessman myself and I depend on loans to run my business. My views on humanity have been turned upside down overnight after getting the money back which I thought I had lost for good."
Belal Hossain said: "I am a poor man and was raised in a poverty stricken home. I try to run my family with an honest living. I am really happy to be able to return the money back to the rightful owner."
Kola Union Parishad Chairman Ayub Hossain said: “Belal returned Tk53,500 to Abdur Rashid, who runs a small business selling wood in Parkhalkola village of the same upazila.
After picking up the bundle of money on Thursday, he visited the UP chairman's home on the same day and handed it over to him.
UP Chairman Abdur Rashid said: "Belal perfectly exemplifies that poverty does not always ruin a person's soul."
In a country where barely a week ago a man was killed for Tk500 in Narayanganj, and who knows how many more such incidents go unreported, this display of virtue is indeed a rare one, especially from a person who struggles to make ends meet.