We now hear more and more about various acts of misbehaviour on social media. We also hear about good deeds done through social media on occasion. This is rarely heard news of such an event. The news reported in this manner was an incident involving the return of a mobile phone valued at 4,50,000 rupees (4.5 lakhs) to its owner. The news spread quickly on social media during the past few days, with over a million people viewing about it within few hours. It is our responsibility as social media users to recognise such good deeds. At a time when injustice engulfing the country, we should be generous in telling the world about such good and inspiring actions.
Our country’s people are currently facing adversity. Hundreds of thousands of people are in a desperate situation, unable to even change their time. Because of their helplessness, some people resort to various fraudulent activities, including theft. However, theft can never be justified.
On the 9th between 12 and 01 in the afternoon, a person carrying a mobile phone came to the mobile phone shop called “Dot Com mobile” in Wayangoda with the hope of selling the phone. It was reported that the mobile phone was stolen one. It is an expensive Apple phone worth lakhs of rupees. But the owner of the phone shop had acted in a manner that he was able to find the rightful owner and hand it over to him, demonstrating noble human quality. He did not get tempted for the financial benefit he could gain. Mr. Aruna Harshana, the owner of the dotcom mobile store who did that noble act, described the act he did as follows.
‘While I was working in the shop, someone came with an Apple iPhone. He came and asked is to get the phone unlocked. That phone is an Apple 13 Pro Max. Which is valued around four lakhs. This person does not even know the type of this phone. I said it can be unlocked, but will little time and to wait for a while. I was at work at that time. After that I said that it would cost about one and a half lakhs to unlock and is it is okay. This person said that it would be difficult for him to bear that cost.
He requested me to keep the phone and give him some money as he need some cash for and emergency. I felt doubt about his request. Browsing the phone I noted it had two pre-wedding shoot pictures. I asked him who is in this picture and how did he get this phone. He said that my sister is in that photo. I told him if it’s his sister, he can ask the password from his sister, to get it unlocked. Then he said that she is angry with him and would not give it to him. He also said that if you can’t unlock it, give me some money and keep the phone. With these words of him I was certain this it a stolen phone.
He suggested me to have the phone and get the components removed and which could be sold at a price. If I had actually bought it for parts, I could have earned two and a half to three hundred thousand rupees. He requested from me forty to fifty thousand rupees. Then I told him that, I will take the phone and to give it to me, I also told him since I don’t have that much money at the moment give me little time to arrange money. He agreed. I got his phone number and he went away to come back when the money is ready.
I wanted to quickly post about this phone on Facebook and find the real owner of it. Because he is urgently need money he will come in a while to collect it. While he was in the shop, I took a photo graph of him and two clear photos on the phone and posted it on Facebook. I posted a message stating’ if there is anyone who owns this, call me immediately; this phone has arrived to be unlocked’.
Later, my post was shared over a million times on Facebook. Accordingly, the owner of the phone called me within 15 to 20 minutes and told me that he had lost the phone in Kurunegala Hospital while it was with his wife. I asked him to come quickly. I called the person who brought the phone to come since I have arranged the money he asked. He came back to my shop. I delayed him for a while and kept him in my shop. I really wanted to return the phone to the owner. However, within an hour the owner of the phone had called the police. The police came and apprehended the person who brought for unlocking within the shop.
I have to say that if I had bought this phone and sold its parts; no one would have got this valuable phone. If I didn’t find out about this, if he had come to Colombo Fort, he would definitely sell this phone for parts. When these valuable phones are stolen and brought to shops, it can be identified that the real owner and the stolen owner.
The phone may be worthless to the owner. But the data inside it cannot be taken from another phone. You can’t even pay for the pictures. When you get a phone like that, think a little bit humanely and put a post on FB and request that it be given to the rightful owner. During such times one has to be tactful. Don’t be afraid of thieves. I have threats too. Last night several people called my number and threatened me. But don’t be afraid of that. I am really happy that my efforts have been successful the dotcom owner said.
You have to face them. The thieves threaten you. No matter how many threats come, we should think humanely and honestly. Many people criticize the people in the phone business saying that we cheat people. You can make a lot of profit without cheating. If we do our job honestly, we can get good profit by repairing phones. In this instance I did not think of the monetary gain I would gain but I valued the human values and qualities above all those. You can get good support from social media if you think humanely without thinking about profit.
I tell everyone that if someone’s Apple phone is lost, the easiest way to find it is to find the IMEI number, the bill from the shop where the phone was bought, the Apple ID and the password.
Mr. Aruna had expressed his thanks all on his Facebook page who supported get this phone to its rightful owner using the social media platform by leaving a note like this.
I am thankful to all of you who helped to return the stolen phone from Kurunegala to its rightful owner within a short period of one hour. Today I have also received threatening phone calls and I have informed all those details to Wayangoda Police Station.
For this, I would like to thank all my Facebook friends and page admins who helped me find the owner based on my very brief request, and all of you who supported me by phone…’
The real owner of the stolen apple iphone posted this comment about the incident.
This phone costs about four and a half lakhs. It is an iPhone of the type Apple 13 Pro Max. My wife is admitted to the hospital. This phone was left on the bedside when she went to buy insulin. At that time, a thief had come and taken the phone. After that, I initially filed a complaint with the Wariyapola police. Later, a complaint was lodged with the Kurunegala police. Two phones were lost in this hospital on that day. If the brother of the phone shop had not shared this post, I would not have got the phone back today. A friend of mine had called that brother immediately. Brother, this is my friend’s phone; please keep it until I come. This brother held the phone in his hand and kept the thief outside the phone shop until the police arrived. Today, my wife has the phone back because of the help of that brother.
Instead of buying this phone for fifty thousand rupees, he made me to get it back because of his humanity. Actually, people are less willing to do such things nowadays. This kind of behaviour should be appreciated. When you seek help from the law it takes time. People don’t like this kind of thing. Sometimes you have to come to the police many times. People have gone backwards in terms of human quality. This brother came forward without looking for any of that. He is a brave boy. Today there are many people who run after money. What this brother highlighted is how social media should be used effectively. In fact, society can take a great example from this incident…’
In today’s society, there are not one in a thousand people who think humanely like you. If someone else got this phone, they would have broken it into pieces and converted into money by now. Today, many people turn to theft because of their inability to face poverty. We are the ones who block the way for this kind of theft.
If the patient admitted in this hospital taken precautions not to leave such a valuable phone unattended on the hospital bed there is no room for this kind of thefts. The pain of losing a phone is indescribable. Some phone shop owners also give money to the person who steals the phone. A mobile phone is a tool that hides many precious memories of your life. If there are children who are studying, even their notes are stored in these phones.
We should be very thankful to Mr. Aruna Harshana of Wayangoda.com Mobile and Wayangoda Police who arranged to deliver this Apple mobile phone, which contained such valuable data, to its rightful owner. Aruna is really an important person for the society. Money cannot buy his qualities. Dhamma protects those who work honestly in this world. We also bow down to the ‘Mawrata’ for the example you set.