Loser not weeper, helpline comes in handy

Loser not weeper, helpline comes in handy

Finders keepers, losers weepers is passé. At least Dongri resident Shahbaz Mistry would believe so. The architect had forgotten his belongings on the rack of a local train a couple of days ago and had little hope of getting them back. But he was pleasantly surprised when the railway police returned it all within a short time. On Wednesday afternoon, Mistry boarded the first-class compartment of a Panvel local at Sandhurst Road station with two handbags – one containing 5kg of dryfruit, the other with brand new clothes purchased for a cousin’s wedding. “I put both my bags on a rack and sat down,” Mistry said, adding that he received a call from a business associate a little before the train pulled into Belapur station. “I must’ve been too engrossed in talking, and I alighted in a hurry at Belapur without the bags.” Only after he walked out the station did he realise he had left the bags. He rushed back, but the train had already left by then. “Just as I was wondering what to do next, I noticed a board announcing the helpline number of the Railway Protection Force. I dialled the number and rattled off details of the two bags and the train which I had alighted a while ago. The staff manning the helpline said they would relay the information to their office,” Mistry told DNA. Mistry then got onto the next Panvel-bound train that reached Belapur station to reach Panvel. “I was relieved to see the two bags at RPF inspector PN Sansare’s office at Panvel.” The bags were handed over to Mistry after verification. “I’m thankful to the effort put in by the helpline to trace my bags within 15 minutes,” he said. On receiving the call from the helpline, inspector PN Sansare and constable MB Bagul had rushed to the train to retrieve the bags, said senior divisional security commissioner Alok Bohra of the railway police.