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Teacher 'forever grateful' to Dubai Police for finding documents he lost at DXB

Dubai - He forgot his bag with two laptops and several documents at the Dubai airport while on his way home to India.

With the countless residents and visitors the Dubai Police had helped, no wonder it is No. 1 for customer happiness in the emirate. The city’s cops are not only fighting crimes — they have also been the saviour of many who had lost their valuables, be it in a cab or at the airport.

There had been several incidents when the Dubai Police even shipped items that tourists had forgotten in the emirate — a wallet, a phone or a backpack, all were sent back to their owners. Late last month, they took a dive to the bottom of Hatta Dam just to return the valuables that a visitor dropped while kayaking.

An Indian math teacher in Dubai was among those who had recently experienced the ‘superpowers’ of the emirate’s police when it comes to finding and returning lost items — even long lost ones.

Sherhan Rasheed, a Grade 11 and 12 teacher at the Indian High School boys-section, said he would remain forever grateful to the Dubai Police after they helped him find several documents he had lost over a month ago at the Dubai International Airport Terminal 2.

After a month-and-a-half of constant follow-ups, Dubai Police officials at the airport called Rasheed on Saturday, informing him that his documents were found in the excess baggage storage section of the Dubai Airport Terminal 3.

“Getting original documents back is a nightmare. I was prepared for the worst. I do not know how to thank them for this,” he told Khaleej Times on Monday.

Rasheed, a resident of UAE since 2016, was then travelling to the south Indian state of Kerala when the incident took place. In a bag, he had kept two laptops and important documents — including his kids’ birth certificates, his educational certificates, his marriage certificate, and several others.

“I wanted to keep these documents in a safe back home,” he explained.

“At one point at the airport, I had gone to the toilet and when I got back, my one-year-old baby was crying. I momentarily kept the shoulder bag down and forgot to take it with me.”

Only when he had boarded his flight did he realise that the bag wasn’t with him. Since he could not exit the aircraft, he immediately filed a complaint with the airport’s lost-and-found section.

“My entire holiday was spent in stress and tears,” he said. Fortunately for Rasheed, a good Samaritan saw his bag near the boarding gate, opened it, and collected the two laptops from the bag. “However, he left the bag containing the documents behind.”

The individual who had taken his laptop contacted Rasheed on Facebook and he was able to collect them when he got back to Dubai on January 2. “Yet, the documents remained missing. Since then, I have been going to the airport every day, speaking with the officials… hoping my documents would be found as well.”

How the Dubai Police found his documents

Rasheed said the Police were extremely accommodating and took Rasheed back to the site where he lost it and used CCTV footage to track the bag. “I was told that, usually, unwanted things are thrown away immediately, however, upon inspection, if the items seem important, they are stored in the excess baggage section of the airport.” Using CCTV footage, the bag was finally found in one of the shelves.

By last Saturday, Rasheed had lost all hope. “However, I got a call from them and they told me, ‘Brother, good news. We found your documents,” he added.

“I broke down in tears.” He said the police officials were extremely respectful and took it upon themselves to find the bag. “They called me ‘ustad’, the Arabic word for teacher. They treated me like I was their brother, and I will be eternally grateful for the help they have provided.”

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com