Indian vegetable seller buys scooter with thousands of coins

Latest Suzuki model bought for $1,400

Hafizur Akhand, 37, a vegetable seller in India’s remote northeastern Assam state, bought a scooter using thousands of coins. Photo: Hirak J Das

A vegetable seller in India’s remote northeastern Assam state has bought a scooter using thousands of coins he saved over the years.

Hafizur Akhand, 37, from a village in Barpeta, stunned showroom employees when he arrived with a sack full of coins to buy his dream scooter on February 14.

The vehicle is the latest Suzuki model and costs $1,400.

Mr Akhnad managed to save 22,100 rupees ($300) in coins selling vegetables. He used this for the down payment and took a bank loan for the rest, to be paid over three years.

"I wanted to buy a two-wheeler, but it was expensive and it required me to save over a long period of time," Mr Akhand told a local news agency.

A viral video shot by the showroom employees shows three men carrying a heavy sack containing the coins.

“The employees told me this man was willing to buy the scooter but only had coins. But we were happy to fulfil this man’s wish,” showroom owner Arnab Jyotidas told The National.

“We accepted the coins which were in the denominations of one rupee to 10 rupees. It took two hours for the workers to count these coins. For us, customer satisfaction is supreme.”