Pakistani taxi driver turns saviour for Indian girl in Dubai
Pakistani cab driver in Dubai turned into a saviour for an Indian girl who lost her wallet — containing important documents including her UK student visa — in a heart-warming gesture just three days before she returned after a winter break.
Modassir Khadim, the young taxi driver, returned the lost wallet to Raechel Rose — who was also accompanied by her father — just when the Indian expat family was in a panic looking for wallet, Gulf News reported Sunday.
Rose, a student of corporate law at Lancaster University, was on her way to attend the birthday party of a friend while on holiday in Dubai, when she lost her wallet late on January 4 in Khadim’s car.
“She had got into his taxi with another friend near Burjuman around 7.30pm on January 4. Just then, they saw their other friends in another car and decided to join them. They immediately left the taxi and Rose didn’t realise that she left her wallet behind,” her mother, Sindhu Biju, said.
In addition to her UK residency permit card [ T4 student visa ], the wallet included her Emirates ID, UAE driving licence, health insurance card, credit card and more than Dh1,000 in various currencies.
“She did not have a copy of the visa. When she called the university, she was told she might have to apply for visa again. Though she was in tears, she rushed to the police station to report the matter,” she added.
The CCTV footages from the mall’s premises have been checked with police assistance. But the number of the car was not known.
“Since they had not started the journey, the driver had not started the meter. Hence, it was difficult to trace the driver through the RTA call centre,” Sindhu said.
Whereas, Khadim said he tried to reach out to the girl by seeking help from the RTA call center, the police station, the Emirates office, but to no avail, as it was against the entity’s privacy clauses to reveal the contact number.
“Finally, the RTA call centre called me back when I was finishing my duty at 3.30am and verified the details that matched with their complaint. I was given their number following which I went to their house to drop the wallet,” Khadim shared.
He said the happy father handed him Dh600. “I refused to take it saying she is like my younger sister. But he insisted that I should take it,” said Khadim, the only brother of four sisters back home.
The Indian family from Kerala also wrote a letter to RTA thanking Khadim.
