A man who had left his wallet in an app cab got it back with all his cards and money intact from the vehicle’s owner, who turned up at his doorstep at 1.30am to return the items.

Partha Bhattacharyya, who works with a pharmaceutical company, was travelling home to Shilpara in Thakurpukur, from Kalyani, Nadia, in an app cab with a friend on Friday. The friend got off at Kalikapur.

After reaching home, Bhattacharyya realised that his wallet was missing. He called his friend, who contacted the app cab helpline to get the driver’s details.

The mobile number that the helpline provided was “unreachable”, the police said.

Bhattacharyya and his friend went to the Thakurpukur traffic guard around 10.30pm for help.

“Sergeant Sagar Singha helped them find an alternative contact number, which turned out to be that of the car’s owner,” said a senior officer of the traffic department.

The owner said the driver had not reported anything about the wallet.

Five minutes later, Bhattacharyya received a text message from his bank saying his debit card had just been used to purchase fuel at a pump in New Alipore.

Several ATM cards allow contactless payment where the card does not need to be swiped through or inserted into a machine and the user can make a transaction of up to Rs 2,000 without entering any personal identification number.

“Sergeant Singha called up the owner again to inform him about the purchase. This time, the owner was embarrassed but said the driver had denied having Bhattacharyya’s wallet. He promised to talk to the driver again,” the officer said.

Bhattacharyya and his friend then went home.

Bhattacharyya’s doorbell rang at 1.30am. The car’s owner, a resident of Park Circus, had turned up to return the wallet. Apart from the Rs 1,100 that was in the wallet, the owner handed Rs 1,900 to Bhattacharyya, the amount the driver had spent using his card to buy fuel.

“I personally think travelling in an app cab is a bit risky nowadays. They do not provide the driver’s number or the vehicle number in the trip history. I am grateful to Mr Singha for his support,” Bhattacharyya said.