A year on, Konkan Railway finally locates owner of unclaimed backpack

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jan 7, 2016: Early after a year a railway passenger lost his valuables while travelling by train, the Konkan Railway was able to locate the rightful owner, an Ukrainian national, and hand over the valuables, including a laptop, a digital camera, cash etc.

On February 13, 2015, an unclaimed backpack was found in Coach No. B-2 of Train No. 16333, Veraval-Thiruvananthapuram Express, by the Railway Protection Force personnel of Karwar. It was received at the RPF post at Karwar.

The backpack contained a laptop, a digital camera and lenses, Rs. 15,000, Turklish Lira 2,680, two credit cards etc. All the documents, including the diary, identity card, were in Russian, making it difficult to trace the identity of passenger, said a release from Konkan Railway here.

When the incumbent RPF Inspector P. Vinod Kumar took over the charge, he made attempts to trace the owner and showed the documents to one of his friends, Shajan, who knew Russian. Mr. Shajan contacted the telephone number mentioned in the diary, spoke in Russian and learnt that it belonged to one Dimitri Koniev.

Mr. Koniev informed that he lost the valuables at Madgaon Railway Station in Goa due to heavy rush when he was travelling along with his companion and kids on February 13. He did not file a police complaint thinking he would never get them back. He was told to contact the RPF, Karwar to claim the valuables while Mr. Koniev informed that he would be in India in December 2015 and get the backpack.

On Tuesday, Mr. Koniev arrived at RPF, Karwar with his companion. After verifying his identity, as per the Ukrainian passport, the details matched with credit card etc. The valuables were handed over to Mr. Koniev by Regional Railway Manager, Karwar, Aasim Sulaiman in the presence of other officials.

Mr. Koniev thanked KRCL for safely handing over the valuables and said it was simply a miracle.