MUMBAI: The Government Railway Police ( GRP )’s telephonic helpline came to the rescue of a Central Railway commuter on Monday, after he left behind a bag containing Rs 2.5 lakh in cash inside a train . The commuter, Arun Patel, 39, said he was relieved to get his bag back as the money contained labourers’ salaries. Patel, a Dombivli resident, is a labour contractor.

On Monday, Patel left his residence with the bag containing cash and a tiffin. He was headed to Neral where he works. “I was to change trains at Badlapur station and kept my bag on an overhead rack. Around 12.03pm, I got off at Badlapur station. In my haste to board a Karjat-bound train for Neral, I forgot all about the bag,” Patel told TOI. “I only recollected it some 20 minutes later and was horrified at the thought of losing so much money. I dialled the GRP helpline (9833331111) around 12.20pm and gave details about the train and my bag. I was praying they would trace it but I had my doubts.”

The GRP found out that the local, on which Patel had left his bag behind, was headed to CST from Badlapur. “We contacted our personnel stationed at Kalyan and passed on the details to them. The train was halted at Kalyan and the fifth coach that Patel had occupied was searched. The bag was still lying on the overhead rack. It was retrieved and returned to Patel after confirming his identity,” a helpline staffer said. Patel said the entire cash was intact and he couldn’t thank the cops enough for their timely action. The operation took only 30 minutes.