Deadly' scramble to exchange notes; two die in Kerala, one in Mumbai

Mumbai/Thalassery (Kerala): The scramble by millions of panicked consumers to exchange banned currency or deposit them turned tragic on Friday when three people died in separate incidents in Maharashtra and Kerala amid chaos for the second straight day with poor cash flow.

As banks across the country struggled to contain serpentine queues, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also took people by surprise when he visited SBI’s Parliament Street branch in Delhi to exchange banned notes with new ones,.

There were no signs of relief even as several people were told to go back after bank servers at several branches reportedly collapsed while several ATMs went dry in a few hours. People who were able to exchange the old currency could get hold of the new notes only after waiting for hours.

Vishwanath Vartak, 73, who was standing in the queue before an SBI branch for exchanging currency, collapsed and died on the spot at Navghar in Mulund in eastern suburbs, police said. Vartak had been standing for hours in the queue to exchange Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes.

Though he was rushed to hospital by some people who saw him collapse, he was declared dead before admission, police said. In Kerala, an elderly man standing in queue collapsed and died, while another fell to death while filling forms to deposit over Rs five lakh worth high denomination notes.

Police said 75-year-old Karthikeyan from Kumarapuram in Haripad in Alappuzha district was standing in a queue at a branch of the State Bank of Travancore, when he collapsed and died.

In the other incident, Unni (48), working as an overseer in the Kerala State Electricity Board fell to his death while he was filling the necessary forms to deposit Rs 5.50 lakh he had with him. Initial reports say it was an accident, police said.

Police said the man had taken the loan from his PF account and had come to deposit it in the bank when he fell from the second floor of the building, housing the bank. He had stood in the queue for some time, police said. A case of unnatural death has been registered.

States told to ensure security to banks
The Centre has asked all states to ensure proper security to all banks, ATMs and vehicles transporting cash in the wake of demonetisation of '500 and '1,000 currency notes.

The home ministry has deputed three officials to be in touch with state governments to ensure security of banks, ATMs and cash transporting vehicles. The three officials are taking regular feedbacks from the directors general of police and the situation in respective states, a home ministry official said.

So far no report of any violence or untoward incident has come from anywhere in the country. “We have conveyed to the states that if they require any assistance, we will provide immediately,” the official said.

The central government is expecting the financial situation to be normal in the next four-five days. Two separate advisories were sent to all states in this regard, the official said.

Chaos and confusion reigned at most banks across the country with harried customers having to stand in winding queues for hours on end for withdrawing or exchanging demonetised notes. Their problems have been compounded with a large number of ATMs being non-functional or getting emptied soon after being replenished.