An 83-year-old depositor of the crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank died on October 18, news agency PTI reported. The man was a heart patient and his family said they were unable to arrange funds to pay for a critical heart surgery.
This is the fourth such incident where a depositor has lost his life owing to the crisis that hit the lender. The deceased, Murlidhar Dharra, ironically had around Rs 80 lakh in deposits at the PMC Bank . However, his family was unable to access the money due to the curbs placed by the RBI on withdrawals from the bank.
Earlier, two people died due to cardiac arrest while a woman committed suicide due to troubles arising as a result of troubles with the lender.
The 83-year-old Dharra died at his home in suburban Mulund earlier in the day for want of an urgent heart surgery, his son Prem told PTI.
It can be noted that under the RBI directions, exceptions can be made for medical emergencies, but it is not known immediately whether the bank refused a request from the family.
The RBI had initially put a cap of Rs 1,000 on the deposit withdrawals and upped it to Rs 40,000 in three moves.
Hapless PMC depositors have been protesting across the country for getting their money back, ever since the bank was placed under restrictions.
The spate of deaths started with the death of the 51- year-old Sumeet Gulati on Tuesday, who had lost his job with Jet Airways after the airline was grounded, hours after attending a depositors' protest, which was followed by the alleged suicide of Nivedita Jagtiani and then another Mulund resident, Fattomal Punjabi.
All the depositors who died had high amount of money stuck in the bank, in the region of over Rs 80 lakh each.
The RBI said there was financial mismanagement at the bank in connivance with realty player HDIL, which was hidden from it for long. The city police claimed it is a Rs 4,355- crore scam and arrested five people in connection of the same, including the bank chairman, the managing director, and the promoters of HDIL.
(With inputs from PTI)
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