BENGALURU: A 39-year-old ragpicker found a plastic bag with USD 3 million, whose authenticity is yet to be ascertained, along with a letter bearing a UN seal on a railway track in the city.
Saleman SK, the ragpicker, who hails from Nadia in West Bengal, collects waste items and sells them for a living.
On Friday when Saleman was looking for waste items in and around the Nagawara railway station, he found the black bag on the railway track and took it to his house at Amruthahalli. When Saleman opened the plastic bag, he found the dollar bills.
Not knowing what to do with the dollar bills, Saleman called Bappa, a scrap dealer, and told him about the money he found. Bappa, who was travelling, told Saleman to keep the money with him until he returned to Bengaluru. Saleman, who found it difficult to keep the money at his house, approached R Kaleem Ullah, a social activist from Swaraj India, on Sunday.
Kaleem Ullah informed the matter to City Police Commissioner B Dayananda. “When I informed the commissioner about the money, he asked me to bring Saleman to his office along with the money. Saleman, who was still in shock, revealed that he found the money on the railway track. The commissioner immediately called the Hebbal police and asked them to inspect the spot,” Ullah said.
The letter bearing the UN seal found in the plastic bag stated, “The economic and finance committee puts in place a special fund which was voted by members of the Security Council to assist the UN peacekeeping forces in South Sudan.
Due to the skeletal banking operations and hijacking of such funds by unauthorised persons such as terrorists and dictators in these regions, the United Nations authorised the finance committee to place a visible laser stamp on the notes to keep them secure and reach them to the destination safely.”
The Hebbal police said the dollar bills appear to be fake and they have sent them to the Reserve Bank of India for a thorough verification.