india

Updated: Nov 22, 2016 15:40 IST

An elderly man in Kerala allegedly ended his life fearing he would not be able to withdraw money deposited in a cooperative bank due to demonetisation and another collapsed and died while standing in a queue in a bank, police said on Tuesday.

The police said 73-year-old Omanakuttan Pillai was found hanging in his bedroom. His relative said he was apprehensive about the Rs five lakh he deposited in a co-operative bank near his house five years ago.

“He was quite disturbed over reports that co-operative banks will be targeted next. When he went to the bank officials told him to come only after the dust has settled. It seems this really aggravated his fear,” a relative said.

In another incident, a retired BSNL employee K Chandrasekharan (68) collapsed and died while he was standing in a queue at a bank in Kollam district in south Kerala.

Read | Demonetisation: Man dies standing in bank queue in Delhi’s Najafgarh

According to his relatives he went to the bank on Monday morning but returned after seeing the long queue. He returned to the bank after lunch but collapsed after some time. Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital his life could not be saved, they said.

Meanwhile, a special session of the state assembly urged the Centre to take immediate steps to address the woes of the people. It also asked the centre and RBI not to take any decision hastily that may weaken the co-operative banking sector. Both ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress came down heavily on the Modi government while the lone BJP member O Rajagopal lauded the initiatives of the Centre.

Participating in the day-long discussion chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the country was headed towards ‘economic slavery’ and the person responsible for this was not engaging in debate. “In fact, hoarders and black marketeers faced no problem but common man’s life has gone for a toss. This uncertainty should end at the earliest,” he said adding that a single paisa deposited in the co-operative sector won’t be lost.