Pak hotel cleaner returns 50,000 dollars in cash left behind by Japanese guest

ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani hotel cleaner, Essa Khan, is being hailed as a national hero after he returned 50,000 dollars in cash left behind by a Japanese NGO worker.

Khan found the money in a bag, which was kept in the safe deposit box, while carrying out a routine inspection of the room before another guest arrived.

Talking about the incident, Khan, who has been working at the Gilgit Serena Hotel near Karakoram for the past 20 years, said that he was simply doing his job.

“I have a responsibility as a human being, as a Pakistani, a Muslim. I never thought about keeping the money,” The Telegraph quoted Khan, as saying.

The hotel staff managed to track down the guest and returned the money, which was intended to fund a feasibility study into tourism projects in northern Pakistan.

Gilgit Serena Hotel’s General Manager, Rashid Uddin, said that the Japanese man was embarrassed to learn that he had lost the cash.

“Even after three days, he had no clue that he had left the money. He came in the next day, and it was easy to see from the look on his face just how relieved he was,” Uddin said.

The hotel gave Khan a Rs.10,000 reward for his honesty, but Uddin said that the 50-year-old’s actions deserved wider recognition.

“In these economic conditions, and in a region of poverty, we should be very, very proud of people like this,” he added. (ANI)