“I have a responsibility as a human being, as a Pakistani, a Muslim,” … “I never thought about keeping the money.”

Pakistani hotel cleaner returns $50,000 in cash left behind by forgetful guest

A hotel cleaner who earns just £200 a year has been hailed a national hero in Pakistan after he returned $50,000 in cash left behind by an absent-minded guest.

By Rob Crilly in Islamabad

Essa Khan found the bag of notes stuffed in a safe deposit box while carrying out a routine inspection of a room vacated by a Japanese NGO worker before another guest arrived.

After years of negative publicity from terror strikes and political unrest, politicians have lauded the housekeeper’s honesty as the “real face of Pakistan”.

But Mr Khan told The Daily Telegraph he was simply doing his job.

“I have a responsibility as a human being, as a Pakistani, a Muslim,” he said on Sunday. “I never thought about keeping the money.”

Mr Khan, 50, has worked for the past 20 years at the Gilgit Serena Hotel, which stands amid dramatic scenery at the foot of the Karakoram mountains, in northern Pakistan.

Hotel staff managed to track down the guest, who works for the Japan International Co-operation Agency, and return the money, which was intended to fund a feasibility study into tourism projects in northern Pakistan.

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