A 60-year-old man named Mahesh, who was living alone, died
at his home in rural Patna. Mahesh was unmarried, lost his brother several
years ago and was living in a hut built on someone else’s land.
Image For Representation/Reuters
Hours after his death, the neighbours found him and searched his house for money or valuables. But the only thing they could get their
hands on was a passbook that showed Rs 1 lakh in his bank account.
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With no other choice, the villagers decided to carry
his body to the bank to release cash for Mahesh’s funeral.
Image For Representation/Reuters
Singriyanwan panchayat sarpanch, Ananati Devi, told TOI that
Mahesh was humble and always helped others and that he was keeping ill for a
few days before his death.
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According to Shahjanpur Police station SHO Amredra Jumar,
the villagers wanted the bank to disburse Rs 20,000 for the funeral.
“The villagers came to know about his death around 5:00 am
on Tuesday. By 6:00 am, they called the bank manager for money before reaching
with the body at the branch at 9:30 am,” the SHO told TOI.
Image For Representation/AP
The body lay inside Canara Banks’ Singriyawan Branch, disrupting work as the standoff between the villagers and the staff continued
for an hour. Sanjeev Kumar handed them Rs 10,000 from the CSR fund and Singriyanwan
mukhiya gave Rs 5,000 more from his own pocket.
“We had never seen any such situation till now in our
banking service,” he said, adding as per the law if no legal heir turns up
in a decade, then the money lying in his account will be reverted to the Reserve Bank of India.
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