In a strange incident, a man in Odisha made headlines for bringing the skeleton of his deceased sister to the bank. The 50-year-old reportedly brought the skeleton as part of his attempt to withdraw money deposited in his sister’s name at the bank.
The incident took place at the Malibusi branch of Odisha Gramin Bank located in Pattana area of Keonjhar district, news agency PTI reported. The man, identified as Jeetu Munda, told police officials that he resorted to the move after bank managers asked him to bring the account holder with him.
The tribal man was seeking to withdraw $20 lakh from the bank account of his elder sister Kalra Munda, who died on January 26.
Munda told reporters: “I ran several times to the bank, and the people there asked me to bring the account holder to withdraw the money deposited in her name. Although I told them that she was dead, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. So, out of frustration, I dug the grave and took out her skeleton as evidence of her death.”
Patna police station Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) Kiran Prasad Sahu said the bank failed to explain the correct process of withdrawing money to Jeetu.
“Jeetu is an illiterate tribal man. He does not know what a legal heir or nominee is. The bank officials failed to make him understand the procedure of withdrawing money from the account of a deceased person,” Sahu told news agency PTI.
However, local Block Development Officer (BDO) Manas Dandpat said that this was the first time he had heard of the incident.
“Only today, I learned about it. We will see what can be done to solve the problem,” BDO told PTI.
Following the incident, police officials intervened and assured the tribal man that they would facilitate the withdrawal of money from his deceased sister’s account.
His sister’s skeletal remains were also buried in the cemetery under police supervision.
