Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move has resulted in several deaths over the past week with citizens resorting to commit suicide after failing to replace their invalid large bills.
In yet another incident, a 45-year-old farmer in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh allegedly committed suicide after failing to get his scrapped high-denomination notes exchanged for new ones due to enormous queue in banks.
The farmer’s wife Pushpalata alleges that Ravi Pradhan was in urgent need of money to help their two sons who were in Tamil Nadu, but was facing difficulties after old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were banned.
“Pradhan’s body was found hanging at his house in Maharajpur village under Saria development block on November 12 night,” Sarangarh Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Junas Bada said.
“What exactly prompted him to take such an extreme step is yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found at the spot,” he said.
As per the preliminary information, Pradhan was ailing and was undergoing treatment.
A case has been registered in this connection, the SDOP said, adding that further probe was on.
“My two sons Sunil (22) and Anil (20), who work at a yarn mill in Tamil Nadu, called their father on November 10 asking for money as their contractor escaped without paying them wages. They wanted to come back home for which they were in immediate need of cash,” she said.
As old currency notes were scrapped, Pradhan had to immediately go to the bank for note exchange.
He stood in queues for two consecutive days at a bank branch in Saraia, around two kms away from Maharajpur, to exchange Rs 3,000 but could not be serviced before the bank shut, she said.
(Feature image source: PTI)