Kolkata/Mumbai: Bank branches provided some respite to customers in terms of cash availablity Saturday eleven days after demonetisation but long queues outside ATMs persisted even as three more deaths stated to be due to cash crisis were reported in Uttar Pradesh.
Many banks reported shorter queues following curbs on exchange of scrapped `500 and `1000 notes but people were still seen waiting in frustration at ATMs due to cash crunch.
All banks served only their respective customers and did not exchange old `500 and `1,000 notes from customers of other banks.
However, this restriction was not applicable on senior citizens as they are allowed to visit any bank branches to exchange defunct notes.
A 75-year-old man, identified as Kamta Prasad, was standing in a queue before Dhikauuni branch of Bank of India in Harodi (UP) when he was taken ill and died on the spot, Shyam Babu Shukla, station officer of Atrauli police station, said.
In Aligarh, Babu Lal (50), a resident of Nagla Mansingh, died due to heart attack after failing to exchange old notes despite making efforts at different banks for three days, his family claimed.
Babu was under tremendous pressure as his daughter’s wedding was slated for November 26, they said. He complained of chest pain after returning from a bank Friday. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
In another incident also in Aligarh, Mohammed Idrees (45), a resident of Jamalpur under Civil Lines police station, died of heart attack while he was on his way to a bank to exchange old currency, his family claimed. They alleged Idrees had no bank account, but he was making rounds of a bank to exchange old notes.
MLA Zameer Ullah Khan said the death of both Babulal and Idrees were connected with the ‘‘shock and frustration over failure to get currency notes exchanged’’ and demanded proper compensation for their families.
There was no let-up in the queues outside ATMs in Mumbai while those opting for bank withdrawal had a tad smooth run as banks offered exchange service of scrapped currencies only to their respective customers.
Several ATMs counters in south Mumbai and suburban areas continued to remain shut as cash ran dry, compounding inconvenience of the cash-strapped people.
A visibly upset Mulund resident, Anees Khan said he could get `2,000 from a bank against the permissible limit of `24,000. None of the ATMs, whether onsite or offsite, in the central business district of Kolkata were open causing immense inconvenience to the account holders.
With the announcement that exchange of notes would be made available to senior citizens only, queues were seen in the bank branches in several parts of city which comprised mainly younger and the middle-aged across genders.
‘‘These people have come for withdrawals from their accounts,’’ a manager with Bank of Baroda’s Dum Dum branch said. Agencies
