Vishal Upadhyay got a reward of Rs 41,000 for returning the 700-carat diamonds to their rightful owner in Sura... Read More

SURAT: A watchman's 15-year-old son, who found a packet containing 700-carat diamonds worth Rs 40 lakh while playing cricket at diamond street of Mahidhapura here on August 15, returned it to its rightful owner when he came searching for it.

Vishal Upadhyay , a Class XI student residing at Mahidhapura's Jadakhadi, was rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 30,000 by Mansukh Savaliya , owner of the diamonds, and Rs 11,000 by Surat Diamond Association (SDA) president Babu Gujarati for his honesty on Saturday.

“I am so indebted to the young boy for returning my diamond packet. It would have been a big loss, had I not found the packet. I would have to sell my house to repay my creditors. The boy saved me and my family,“ Mansukh said, adding that he narrowed down his area of search after going through CCTV footage.

Vishal found the packet containing diamonds while playing cricket at the diamond street with his friends.His friend hit the ball in the parking area on the roadside and Vishal chased it. When he was looking for the ball in the parking area, he laid his hands on the diamond packet tucked beneath a two-wheeler.

“I returned home and kept the packet safely without informing my parents. I thought I would find the rightful owner and return the packet to him. On the third day, the packet owner came looking for the packet. I heard the conversation and immediately followed him. I told him that the packet was with me,“ said Vishal, whose mother stitches clothes and elder brother works in an accountant's office. “I remember losing a Rs50 note in the street given by my mother. That day I could not eat. I kept on thinking about the pain and agony through which the person who lost the diamond packet may be going through,“ said Vishal, who lives with five family members in a tiny tin-shed room.

Asked what he will do with the Rs 41,000 reward, he said, “I will use the money for my studies. I want to make it big one day. I want to give a quality life to my mother and father." Vishal's father Phulchand Upadhyay is employed as a watchman on a monthly wage of Rs 8,000 in a building housing diamond offices in Mahidhpura.

Read this story in Bengali

