Elderly farmer dies in bank queue in Karnataka village

A 70-year-old man died on Saturday allegedly after he suffered a heart attack while waiting in queue for nearly four hours to exchange old notes at the State Bank of Mysore branch in Cheluru village in Tumakuru district, about 105 km from Bengaluru, police said.

"The victim, Siddappa, collapsed after suffering a sudden heart attack and died even before he could be rushed to a nearby hospital," Tumakuru Superintendant of Police Karthik Reddy told IANS over the phone.

As the Indian Banks Association asked banks to allow only senior citizens to exchange old currency notes or deposit money on Saturday, Siddappa reached the bank even before it opened for business at 10.30 a.m.

"The incident happened between 12:.30-1.00 p.m., when Siddappa was waiting for his turn to enter the bank after standing nearly four hours in the queue, holding about Rs 31,000 in cash with a challan," Reddy said.

Siddappa is survived by three children including a son, Kemparaj, who is a taluk panchayat member.

This is the second such death in the state after the November 8 demonetisation.

Gopala Shetty, a 93-year-old man died on November 12 at Ajekar village in Udupi district of southern Karnataka, about 360 km from Bengaluru, after he collapsed while standing in a long queue to exchange the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at the state-run Corporation Bank's local branch, the police said.

Shetty, an agriculturist, is survived by three sons and a daughter.

--IANS

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