A fruit vendor has proved that honesty is not yet an extinct virtue, and that there are still people who are not taken-over by materialistic lures.

Raju Kalain. a 24-year-old resident of the city's Mirpur area, happened to come upon a cellular phone on a sidewalk In Karwan Bazar a few days back. He had no idea what it was. So. he took it to a businessman in the neighbourhood. When he learnt of the phone's worth, he readily made up his mind to get it back to its owner.

The temptation was there. Financially. Kalam. who used to work at garments factory but had to give up the Job for health reasons, was in distress. He could have easily sold the phone for at least ten thousand taka. But his sense of morality prevailed.

After a few days of looking around, which involved talking to the guards of all the offices around the place where he had found the phone, he finally traced down the owner yesterday and returned the costly phone set to him.