With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placing withdrawal restrictions in Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank following a 4,355 crore scam, one more stressed account holder passed away on Tuesday due to heart attack.
Fattomal Punjabi is the second one to die amid PMC bank crisis. On Monday, a 51-year-old died of heart attack while the third one committed suicide.
Punjabi, who had an account with the PMC bank’s Mulund branch, had taken part in protests in the last few days and had confided in friends about financial troubles he was facing because of the curbs placed on withdrawals by the Reserve Bank of India.
Similarly, the 51-year-old former employee of Jet Airways, Sanjay Gulati, who had deposits worth Rs 90 lakh in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, died hours after participating in a protest rally by depositors.
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In the third case, a 39-year-old bank-holder Nivedita Bijlani allegedly ended her life by taking overdose of sleeping pills at her residence in suburban Versova late Monday evening. However, as quoted in several media reports, the police has ruled out PMC bank case being connected to the suicide.
“The cause of the suicide is yet to be ascertained. She had an account in PMC Bank but we don’t think it (death) was related to the crisis in the bank,” a PTI report quoted a police official as saying.
PMC Bank is a multi-state scheduled urban cooperative bank with operations in Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
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Last month, the RBI restricted the activities of the PMC Bank for six months and asked it to not grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowing of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits.
Four people, including promoters of realty firm HDIL to which the bank made the sour loans, and the lender’s former chairman and ex-managing director have so far been arrested in connection with the alleged Rs 4,355 crore scam.
