He borrowed 3,000 riyals in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, he just repaid it

In the early 1990s, Mohammed Ismail and Edla Lachanna worked together at a construction company in Saudi Arabia. Facing financial hardship, Ismail borrowed 3,000 Saudi Riyals from Lachanna. Soon after, both men returned to their hometowns and lost contact.

For years, the unpaid debt weighed heavily on Ismail’s conscience, even though Lachanna had long forgotten about it, according to a report by New Indian Express. Determined to repay his friend, Ismail eventually turned to Google Maps and Google Gemini AI to track down Lachanna’s whereabouts, remembering only that he hailed from Dharmapuri in Jagtial district, Telangana.

Ismail travelled over 1,200 km from Palakkad, Kerala, via Hyderabad, eventually locating Lachanna’s house. He discovered Lachanna was still working in Saudi Arabia, and Lachanna’s family connected the two men over a WhatsApp video call, where Lachanna instantly recognised his old colleague.

Ismail reminded Lachanna of the loan and transferred Rs 25,000 — an amount he considered equivalent to the borrowed sum — to Lachanna’s family via PhonePe.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Santeri Viinamaki