Bihar: Auto driver gets Rs 20k back as no one touched his lost wallet due to COVID-19 fear

In an unusual incident, an auto driver in Bihar who lost a sum of 20,500 rupees in cash retrieved the entire amount as people did not touch the money due to the fear of the novel coronavirus. Gajendra Shah, a resident of Kopa village in Saharsa district reportedly dropped the 25,000 cash bundle on the road and found it when neighbours informed him that the police collected the cash from the street as people were scared to touch it. 

According to reports, the auto driver had headed out with the sum in order to purchase a tin shed and ended up dropping the Rs. 20,000 from his pocket when he took out tobacco. He was bewildered when he found out that the cash was missing. He tried to search on the road nearby, but to no avail, the amount easily was his two month’s salary.

However, in a piece of great news that he got, some people informed him that the police were called after the money was found lying on the road and rumours of currency notes being the potential carrier of COVID-19 has kept people from picking it. Therefore, the money had all the while been lying on the road but had not been touched despite noticed by the general public due to rumours. Therefore, Shah then reached the police station and after a verification process, the money was handed over to him as the rightful claimant of the sum, as per media reports.

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No scientific evidence for rumour

While there is no scientific evidence that the COVID-19 disease could happen due to contraction from the banknotes, people have been heeding the possibility of it happening. Therefore, people have been sceptical about touching the banknotes. Although, the World Health Organisation earlier had advised people to maintain proper hygiene and wash hands post handling of currency that circulated in the public domain. However, Reserve Bank of India has not issued any official statement regarding the paper currency being a carrier of the strain of coronavirus, reports confirmed.  

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(Image Credit: Pixabay/ representative Image)