Man gets back stolen money, but in demonetised notes!

Dinesh Chandra Gupta should have been happy after the cash and jewellery that were stolen from his house in December 2015 were recovered by cops and handed over to him. But he’s not. The reason is that the Rs1,22,000 that he received after a court order on February 7, 2017 is in old Rs 500 and 1000 notes - currency that was demonetised on November 8, 2016.

The 55-year-old father of two daughters has written to the prime minister, the finance minister and the Reserve Bank of India, explaining his problem. However, he is still clueless about what he should do. His elder daughter is set to get married after Diwali this year, which has only added to his worries.

A resident of Iradatnagar town, Gupta lost his sister Sunita and her husband Ram Niwas in a road accident on December 28, 2015. He and his family had to rush to Agra city. When they came back, more unpleasant news greeted them. Their house had been broken into and cash and jewellery were missing.

“Iradatnagar police worked out the case within a month. But the money and valuables were recovered in phases and remained in police custody due to legal issues,” Gupta told HT on Wednesday.

“I moved an application in court (in Agra) on December 18, 2016, after demonetisation came into effect. On February 7, this year, I was handed over Rs 1,22,000 in old notes.”

Gupta said he approached Canara Bank at Iradatnagar where he has an account. “But with the time limit for exchange or deposit having gone by, the bankers asked me to approach the Reserve Bank of India.”

BALL’S IN RBI COURT

A bank official of Agra on condition of anonymity told HT that demonetised notes were to be deposited by December 30, 2016. “After that only people who were away from India were allowed to deposit old notes - and that too at RBI. Other resident Indians are not allowed to do so,” he said.