Hyderabad: Traffic came to a standstill on Mehdipatnam to Raidurgam road for nearly two hours on Friday morning as people blocked the road in protest after SBI’s Tolichowki branch closed its gates saying it does not have any cash to dispense.
Hundreds of people, who consisted largely of young men, came onto the road and raised slogans against Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for demonetisation and demanded SBI to disburse cash.
People got irked as banks will remain closed in the next three days, due to second Saturday, Sunday and Miladunnabi on Monday.
A large number of ATMs are also not dispensing cash in the city. The blockade halted traffic going from Mehdip-atnam towards Gachibowli which consisted majorly of IT employees. Some of the motorists, mainly those on two-wheelers managed to get out of the blockade through the by-lanes.
Police intervention too could not get protesters to lift the blockade.
The traffic jam ended only after some people left for the Friday namaz in the afternoon. A small number of people, who were waiting in the queue, managed to get Rs 2000 each in the evening. Others were given tokens, which can be used to withdraw cash when bank reopens on Tuesday.
