Honest Coimbatore auto driver returns gold jewellery

COIMBATORE: Coimbatore city police commissioner A Amalraj honoured an auto rickshaw driver on Monday for handing over 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery and gold coins found in a street at RS Puram here.
The police commissioner rewarded Rs 1,000 to auto driver A Muniyappan of Panaimarathur near Telugupalayam.
Muniyappan received Rs 10,000 from a businessman who got his lost gold jewellery back thanks to him.
Swaminathan, a businessman from AKS Nagar at Ponnaiahrajapuram approached the police and said that he had given his gold jewellery and gold coins to his manager Palanisamy to pledge them with a private bank. Palanisamy kept the bag containing 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery in his motorcycle’s tank cover. He lost the bag at RS Puram. He informed Swaminathan who approached the police.
The police handed over the jewellery to the businessman.
Muniyappan has been operating his auto rickshaw from a stand at RS Puram for the last 20 years.
On Monday morning, he was chatting with other autorickshaw drivers when he noticed a bag near a coffee shop. He rushed to the spot and took the bag containing 20 gold coins (each weighing one sovereign) and 40 sovereigns of gold jewellery.
He alerted the RS Puram (crime) police who rushed to the spot and received the bag.
Muniyappan said he was the only bread winner of his four-member family. “I am earning Rs 200 per day. But I want to lead a life with my own earning. So I handed over the gold jewellery to the police,” he said.