UAE police officer spent 3 months finding a woman who lost Dh700

Whether it's Dh700 or Dh14,000 - any amount of lost cash found in Ajman prompts a search mission for First Assistant Omar Mussabah Al Kabbi. He never stops until he is able to return the money - wherever in the world the owners are.
Al Kaabi's three-month search to return an amount of cash to a woman who had left the country for good made headlines on Sunday.
This woman was a 42-year-old house maid who had flown home to a remote village in Bangladesh.
She had long given up on the idea that some Good Samaritan would actually send her the Dh700 she had in the wallet she lost. So, she was shocked when a police officer in Ajman found her and wired her the cash.
"I figured the Dh700 cash could be her hard-earned salary. Even if it's a small amount to others, for her, it was big. And she would be in much need of it," Al Kaabi told Khaleej Times, as he recalled how he did all he could to find the woman named Jasmin Fakir.
When the wallet was handed over to the police by an honest resident - there were only a few things in it. Fakir's Emirates ID, the cash, and a piece of paper with torn edges.
Since all numbers linked to the ID were no longer working, the only key to finding her were the numbers scribbled on the piece of paper. Al Kaabi dialled the number, but someone living in Saudi Arabia answered the call. He didn't speak Arabic or English, so the officer had to ask his driver to speak to the man.
"He said he needed two to three days to find the number where the woman could be contacted. After a month, he managed to find a number of a relative, but he lives in a village that was far from the woman. He promised to look for a number that could help in reaching her," said the officer from Ajman's Al Madina police station.
Al Kabbi didn't just wait - he made overseas calls every other day just to make sure that the man was searching for the number. "After more than two weeks, he managed to provide me with Fakir's contact."
"She was so surprised that I contacted her to give her the money, as she didn't even file a police report. She said she was planning to come back to the country but, because of Covid-19, her visa expired," the officer said.
Fakir wasn't the only person that First Assistant Al Kabbi had helped. In one instance, he was able to return Dh14,000 in cash to a visitor who had already left the country.
Lt-Col Ghaith Khalifa Al Kabbi, director of Al Madinah Comprehensive Police Station, said the Ajman Police are determined to support the community in every way they can.
"The police return lost cash to their owners not only because it was part of their job but also because they cared for others and they are committed to fulfilling their social responsibility," Lt-Col Al Kabbi said.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com 

• Ajman

Afkar Ali Ahmed

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com