A Swiss photographer who left his camera behind near a ghat in Varanasi got it back within about two hours, after the Dashashwamedh police outpost traced it through CCTV footage and other checks. The camera, a Leica worth about Rs 10 lakh according to police, was returned to him earlier this week, according to the outpost's in-charge, Anuj Mani Tiwari.
The tourist, Jonas Benjamin Ihle, is from Switzerland and had come to India to take photographs. Police said he put the camera down near a ghat and then forgot it there. When he went back to look for it, he could not find it, even after searching for some time.
He then went to the Dashashwamedh outpost and told Tiwari what had happened. Police said a team began checking CCTV footage from the area and used other means to follow the trail. Within roughly two hours the camera had been recovered and handed back to its owner.
The police account does not say where the camera was found or who had it in the meantime, and no one has been reported as held or booked in the matter. On the available details, it is a case of lost property recovered, not a theft.
The recovery team was led by sub-inspector Shiv Swaroop Pandey and included constables Devendra Pratap Singh, Bhupendra Singh, Sanjay Yadav and Sanjeev Kumar, police said. The outpost covers one of the busiest stretches of the riverfront.
The tourist thanked Varanasi police after getting the camera back. According to police, he said he was glad to see how quickly and effectively the force had worked, that the experience would stay with him, and that he would encourage his friends to visit Varanasi.
For a working photographer the loss would have been more than the price tag. A professional camera of that class often carries the memory cards holding days of shooting, and for a visitor in a foreign city the pictures can be harder to replace than the equipment. Leica, the German maker, is a favourite of street and documentary photographers, many of whom are drawn to the ghats for their light and their crowds.
Dashashwamedh sits at the centre of that crowd. The ghat hosts the city's best-known evening Ganga aarti and lies close to the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, so it stays packed with pilgrims, boat passengers and tourists for much of the day. The same stretch has been the focus of civic work this season, including a drive in which the municipal corporation and Namami Gange pulled more than a tonne of waste from the river.
Visitors who misplace something at the ghats can save time by acting quickly. The nearest police outpost or station is the first stop, and the emergency number 112 works across Uttar Pradesh. It helps to note the exact time and spot where the item was last seen, along with any identifying details such as a serial number, colour or bag, because that is what police match against camera footage.
Lost items can also be reported online through the Uttar Pradesh Police's citizen services, which issue a lost article report that is useful for insurance claims or replacing documents. For foreign tourists, a copy of the passport and visa page kept separately from the originals makes the process faster.
Varanasi's police stations have been working on their public dealing in other ways too. Late last month Chowk became the first police station in the city to receive an ISO 9001 certificate, a standard tied to how services are delivered to the people who walk in.
The episode comes as the city heads into its peak visitor months, with the festive season and the winter tourist rush ahead. On World Tourism Day last month, guides in the city turned out to welcome visitors. For one Swiss visitor, at least, the story he takes home from the ghats now ends with his camera back in his hands.
