73-year-old dies of heart attack while standing in queue outside SBI Bank in Mulund

A 73-year-old man allegedly died of a heart attack while standing in a queue outside a bank in Mulund on Friday.

The elderly, identified as Vishwas Vartak, had been standing in a queue outside the State Bank of India branch in Hari Om Nagar, Mulund, for half an hour to exchange the currency notes when the incident took place.

According to a bystander, the octogenarian fell on the ground all of a sudden while still in queue, following which authorities were notified.

While initial reports suggest that Mr Vartak died due to heart attack, the exact cause of death has not been confirmed by authorities.

Mulund police are in the process of filing a case of accidental death.

Meanwhile, most banks and ATMs across the city have been witnessing long queues since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on Tuesday.

Since banks were closed the following day (November 9) and ATMs for two days (November 9 & 10), thousands either lined up to exchange existing currency or withdraw the newer currency as soon as they opened.

Reports of dry ATMs were received from different parts of Mumbai including Dadar, Worli, Kandivali, Ghatkopar, though banks assured they were making attempts to replenish the cash.

Many who succeeded in making withdrawals from banks on Thursday encountered problems exchanging them in the markets for smaller denomination notes like Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10.

To counter this dilemma, many were compelled to make extra purchases to spend the entire Rs 500 or Rs 2,000.

Small businesses, roadside stalls, street-vendors, the working class and commoners bore the brunt with little or no business conducted for the third consecutive day on Friday due to lack of small denomination notes.