When three college youths decided to withdraw a couple of Rs 100 from an ATM to give a surprise birthday party to another pal, little did they know how strongly their integrity was going to be tested.
As Shaikh lateef Wali, an engineering student from West Godavari studying in Hyderabad tried to withdraw Rs 200 from the ATM, the loose door of ATM machine opened spilling more than 2.5 million worth currency notes.
As there was no security guard around, the befuddled youth did not know what to do.
Wali, who was accompanied by two other friends Shiva Durga Prasad and Hari Prasad, frantically looked for a phone number to alert the authorities. “When I could not get a proper response from the number listed there, I called 100 and alerted the police. It took only seven minutues for the police to reach the spot,” said Wali.
Meanwhile, four more customers reached the ATM to use it but the alert youth did not permit them. Though the customers became suspicious and protested, the youth stood guard and stopped them.
When asked what was their first reaction on seeing so much money, Wali said, “not for a minute we thought of taking away the money. On the other hand we were afraid authorities may blame us for forcibly opening the machine. But we decided to do what was right. I give credit to the right and honest upbringing of my parents to this”.
The ATM had an amount of Rs 25, 50,500 at the time of the incident. Authorities were investigating how the ATM opened up throwing out the wads of currency notes.
The police and the bank authorities happy and grateful for the honesty and integrity of the youth presented a cash reward of Rs 5000 each to three youth. Officials also presented them with an appreciation letter.
“We got many rewards in school days but this is the most memorable”, said Hari Prasad. The three youth have emerged as a role model and they were receiving telephone calls from all over the State appreciating for their good deed.