Nearly 40 deaths in seven days attributed to demonetisation

People queue to exchange old 500 and 1000 INR notes and deposit money at a bank in Hyderabad Pic AFP New Delhi Nearly 40 deaths including suicides cardiac arrests in long queues hospital casualties and a murder in a fit of rage in the past few days have been attributed to demonetisation The move has caused a huge cash crunch in the country and turned life upside down for the lower middle class and poor families in IndiaEleven people have died in Uttar Pradesh most due to cardiac attacks since Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 night announced the recall of 500 and 1000rupee notes rendering them illegalAssam Madhya Pradesh Jharkhand and Gujarat reported three deaths each while two persons each have died in Telangana Bihar Mumbai Kerala and Karantaka Seven persons have died in Odisha Andhra Pradesh Delhi Chhattisgarh Rajasthan and West Bengal put togetherIn Odisha a twoyearold suffering from high fever died after an autorickshaw driver refused the family a ride because it didnt have lower denomination notes to pay for fare The deaths in Uttar Pradesh include seven due to cardiac arrests and two suicides in the past one weekA farmer in Bulandshahr allegedly hanged himself in his hosue on Sunday after he failed to exchange his old currency notes The police said he was to marry off his daughter on December 4 and had visited a bank to exchange his old notes but could not do so because of the surging crowdsTwo minors were also reported to have died in the state after their parents failed to arrange lower denomination notes for their treatments in hospitals The hospitals denied the chargesThe consequences of demonetisation have also claimed three lives in Jharkhand Police sources said two died on Wednesday and one on Tuesday Ramchandra Paswan died afer standing in a crushing queue for more than four hours at a State Bank of India branch in MohammadganjIn another incident 70yearold Lakshmi died of shock over the death of his 20yearold grandson Lavkush in Bokaro district Lavkush died on Tuesday night as the economic condition of the family had worsened His father a daily wage worker was unable to get work in the past few daysIn Mumbai an ill infant was allegedly denied admission to a private hospital in Govandi area for the same reason He died the next day Apart from these two fatal incidents many private hospitals have refused to accept the now spiked currency notes in violation of government orders posing huge problems for people during medical emergenciesA 73yearold man died due to heart failure after waiting for long in a queue outside a public sector bank in Mulund MumbaiIn Assam Dinabandhu Das 52 had taken out a huge sum of money from the bank for the marriage of his daughter slated for next month He died of a shock after Modi announced the decision rendering the currency notes uselessHe felt uneasy after hearing that the central government banned the currency notes All the amount was in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations We took him to the Marowari Maternity Hospital immediately but the doctors declared him brought dead a relative saidAnother trader lost his life in Assams Jorhat town with one of his sons saying the death was due to depression he suffered after the demonetisation decision was announcedJitu Rahman in Sivsagar district of Assam went to the ATM around 11 pm on November 8 to deposit at an ATM some 1000 and 500rupee notes He waited before the machine became nonfunctional He was found dead in the bed next morningGopala Shetty 93 died on Saturday at Ajekar village in Udupi district of southern Karnataka after he collapsed in a long queue to exchange the demonetised currency notes at the staterun Corporation BankThe victim stood in the queue even before the bank opened for business on a hot day As he could not bear the heat his blood pressure rose and he collapsed at the spot with the old notes in his hands Karkala Circle Inspector Joy Anthony told IANSIn West Bengals Howrah a man was alleged to have thrown his wife to death from the 10th floor of their apartment building as she returned home empty handed hours after standing in a queue outside an ATM A family member said the accused was tense over the governments move