Employee dies in Kapurthala bank, woman in Karnal bank

GURMAIL SINGH, A SENIOR BANK OFFICIAL AT BHOLATH, SUFFERED HEART ATTACK AND LATER DIED AT A PRIVATE HOSPITAL

KAPURTHALA/KARNAL: Amid the the raging rush of customers following demonetisation, a bank employee of Punjab and Sind Bank at Bholath in Kaprthala district died followining heart attack on Friday night.

Gurmail Singh, a local resident, was a senior bank official at the bank and was to retire on November 30.

Bank manager, Sanjay Sharma said, “Singh suffered a minor cardiac arrest in between 11: 30 to 11:45 am on Friday and started sweating profusely.” The other employees gave him water, said Sharma. His fellow colleagues claimed that he complained of chest pain and was taken to a local hospital. But after his condition started deteriorating in the evening family shifted him to a private hospital at Jalandhar, however, he was declared dead. He is survived by a wife and three sons.

In Karnal, an 80-year-old woman, waiting to submit her life certificate for continuance of the family pension she was receiving after her husband’s death, collapsed and died at the Central Bank of India’s Karnal branch on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Kaushalya, a resident of Sector 16 here.

Amit Ranjan, senior manager of the branch situated at Chawda Bazaar, said: “The woman was sitting on a chair, when she suddenly fell unconscious. A boy accompanying her informed the family, who took her to hospital.”

Shiv Raj Sharma, son of the deceased woman, said doctors declared her brought dead. He alleged her mother collapsed due to suffocation caused by huge rush at the bank. The bank official, however, denied that the woman faced any inconvenience.

No autopsy was conducted as the family took the body for cremation. ATMS DISPENSE CASH OVERNIGHT IN HISAR HISAR: Hisar residents got some relief after four ATMs remained open in the city on Friday night.

While Punjab National Bank kept its ATM located at the bus stand open round-the-clock, HDFC Bank came to the rescue of people accessing the ATM near the railway road. The State Bank of India, meanwhile, kept its ATMs near the railway station and on Rajgarh road open during the night.

The move came deputy commissioner (DC) Nikhil Gajraj made a plea to the banks, assuring them of police security.

Meanwhile, the total number of ATMs recalibrated in the city reached 172. These will start dispensing fresh currency from Monday, said the administration. A HELPING HAND

The Indian National Student Organisation (INSO), meanwhile, opened help desks for those unable to fill the bank forms for exchanging their old currency at bank branches.

INSO national president Digvijay Singh Chautala said: “We have asked our members to come forward and start helping those who are unable to fill the forms. We are also serving water and tea to those waiting in queues.”