On Friday, 80-year-old man, PMC Bank account holder, died after suffering a heart attack making it fourth death reported in Mumbai of an account holder in the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative bank.
According to the Indian Express, 80-year-old Muralidhar Darra died after his family couldn’t arrange funds for his bypass surgery. Muralidhar’s son Prem Darra (43) said that they Rs 80 lakh in various accounts at the bank. Muralidhar had moved to Mulund as a refugee from Sindh in Pakistan in 1947.
Prem Darra told the leading daily, “He worked hard and eventually managed to open a tea shop, which I manage now. Most of our fixed deposits were from the money he had given us. My wife was admitted at a private hospital. On September 24, I received a bill of Rs 2 lakh. Initially, I hid this from my father but had to finally tell him in October, when he kept asking why I was so worried.”
Muralidhar was admitted to the hospital after after his health deteriorated. Doctors told the family that he needs a bypass surgery. Prem later went to bank with his sister to speak with the PMC Bank authorities. Prem told the Indian Express, "They assured us that they would forward our application to RBI, but could not say when and how much money we would get.” “The PMC Bank is responsible for my father’s death. They conspired and planned to cheat us off our hard earned money,” added Prem.
Before him, last Monday, a depositor Sanjay Gulati suffered a cardiac arrest and died at his home in Oshiwara, as all his monies were blocked in the PMC Bank and he could not withdraw cash for his physically challenged son's treatment.
A day later on Tuesday, another depositor, Fattomal Punjabi, died of a cardiac arrest as his life's savings were stuck in the bank. On Wednesday, a lady doctor named Nivedita Bijlani allegedly committed suicide by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills and the PMC Bank crisis was blamed for triggering the circumstances leading to her taking the extreme step.
Presently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted depositors to withdraw a maximum of Rs 40,000 from the PMC Bank on which it has imposed wide-ranging sanctions for six months starting September. Since the scam broke out at the start of the festival season, PMC Bank depositors have been running from pillar to post carrying out a series of protests in the city, lodging police complaints and filing court cases against the bank management.
