Bengaluru: Be honest with yourself. What would you do if you found a wallet loaded with cash, fallen on the road? Would you look for the ID card and try to contact the owner? Would you hand it over to the police? Or would you take the cash and throw the wallet? Now imagine finding a bag filled with cash. What will you do?

“What should I do?” is probably the first question that popped into Yellapa Betagiri’s mind when he stumbled across a fat bag of cash, amounting to Rs 1 lakh. Yellapa, a bus conductor with the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), found the bag and its contents inside the bus.

The bag belonged to Subhadra, who accidentally left the bag on the bus when she got off at Esteem Mall. When she realised that her bag was missing, Subhadra found out Yellapa’s number from the BMTC airport help desk and informed him that she is the owner of the bag he found.

By the time the woman contacted Yellapa, however, the bus had already reached Cole’s Road, so he told her that he would meet her at the bus’ next stop, Whitefield. The bus conductor was able to identify Subhadra, as the bag contained not just her cash but her debit card, credit card and even her Aadhaar card, and returned her belongings.

Sources at the BMTC have said that 96 such cases were reported last year, where drivers or conductors showed honestly and returned lost items or luggage to the rightful owners. These honest employees are also rewarded and appreciated for their honesty by the corporation.