Mumbai: Unable to withdraw money for his treatment, a senior depositor with the scam-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank died here Friday, family sources said.
The victim has been identified as Murlidhar Dhara, a resident of Mulund Colony in north east Mumbai. This is the fourth victim whose death has been attributed to the agony faced by the scores of depositors of the PMC Bank.
On Monday, 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.
The next day, another depositor, Fattomal Punjabi, died of heart attack 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 crises were 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, the aggrieved PMC Bank depositors have been carrying out a series of protests in the city, lodging police complaints and filing court cases against the bank management.
Depositors’ groups have demanded that the RBI should immediately lift the curbs on their deposits, or merge the PMC Bank with some other bigger bank to ensure the safety of their money lying inaccessible in various accounts.
