How Google Maps helped one man repay a debt owed since the 1990s

A debt from the early 1990s has finally been settled, thanks to Google Maps and Google Gemini AI. Mohammed Ismail and Edla Lachanna worked together at a construction company in Saudi Arabia at the time, when Ismail, facing financial hardship, borrowed 3,000 Saudi Riyals from Lachanna. The two men returned to their hometowns soon after and lost contact, according to a report by New Indian Express.

For years, the unpaid debt weighed on Ismail’s conscience, even though Lachanna had long forgotten about it. Determined to repay his friend, Ismail 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