Emdadul Haque of South Mourail area of Brahmanbaria town came to the booking assistant's room at Brahmanbaria Railway Station around 12:30pm on Monday.
Remorse has been a constant feeling for 61-year-old Emdadul Haque for the last couple of months. The reason is enough to come as a surprise for anyone in these times.
During his years as a government employee, Emdadul travelled several times without tickets on different trains on Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet railway routes.
Being driven by his conscience, Emdadul has recently paid all his dues after his retirement.
This rare occurrence went viral on social media as an instance of honesty and integrity.
Emdadul, a father of four, worked as a constable at the Anti-Corruption Commission. He went on retirement in December 2020.
During his service, Emdadul travelled without tickets on different trains on multiple occasions as he could not manage tickets at all times.
However, he kept records of all his due fares. These records helped him pay his dues upon retirement.
"There is no other way to repay this debt. So I gave the money directly to the railway. I don't know if I will be free from the liability but at least I will get my peace of mind."
"Ever since my retirement, I have been suffering from guilt for travelling without tickets during my service years. The fares were paid after contacting the railway authorities," he added.
The story went viral on social media after Sohel Rana Bhuiyan, the admin of a Facebook page named "The Train", posted a status mentioning the incident.
Brahmanbaria Railway Station Master Rafiqul Islam said the railway authorities were overwhelmed as Emdadul has set such an example of honesty.
Didar Mollah, booking assistant at Brahmanbaria Railway Station, said, "Emdadul travelled several times without a ticket during his time as a service holder. But he had been suffering from remorse ever since he retired."
"That is the reason he [Emdadul] contacted the railway himself. To get rid of the debt, he paid by buying a ticket worth Tk 2,530," said Didar.