: A 26-year-old businessman allegedly hanged himself at his home in south Delhi’s Neb Sarai on Thursday. His wife has claimed that he was frustrated at not being able to procure usable notes in place of Rs. 12 lakh in banned currencies.

The deceased has been identified as Virendra Kumar Basoya, owner of a showroom for LED products.

According to his wife, Ronak Basoya, he was desperate to get the Rs. 12 lakh cash exchanged and had even contacted some people for help.

In vain

“One man had offered to charge Rs. 4 lakh (as commission) to exchange the amount, but had sought 15-20 days. That had left him worried,” said Ronak.

The couple was also purportedly set to move into their own house this month, but was forced to postpone it because of the demonetisation move.

“Virendra had paid the advance amount, and was set to give the rest in cash. He had informed me that he would be vacating my house this month, but because of the ban on currencies, he sought an extension of one month,” said Rizwan Raju, Virendra’s land owner.

Ronak further said she was pregnant, but had no money to buy medicines. “The cash problem had led to quarrels between Virendra and me in the last few days. I had borrowed Rs. 500 from a neighbour and had got another Rs. 1,000 exchanged. But that was not enough,” said Ronak.

Plans gone awry

On November 11, the couple had celebrated their first marriage anniversary, albeit without any fanfare because of lack of money.

“We were a happy couple, but the absence of cash created a lot of problems,” said Ronak.

Meanwhile, the police said Virendra was in the habit of lending money on interest. They further claimed that he had two wives.

The police are also probing what drove Virendra to suicide.