HIGHLIGHTS
• Sanjay Gulati, 51, died of a heart attack at his home in Oshiwara
• He had attended a PMC Bank protest with his 80-year-old father
• Sanjay Gulati had lost his job with the now-grounded Jet Airways
MUMBAI: An account holder at the Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, who had deposits of over Rs. 90 lakh with the troubled bank, died in Mumbai on Monday. He died of a heart attack hours after attending a protest by distressed customers of the bank outside a Mumbai court.
Sanjay Gulati, 51, went for the protest march on Monday morning. He had been stressed about his deposits at PMC, said Manali Narkar, who was among the protesters.
The Oshiwara resident went to the protest with his 80-year-old father. Hours later, he collapsed at the dinner table, a senior official at the Oshiwara police station was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Mr Gulati, who was an engineer with the Jet Airways, had lost his job when the airline shut operations. He has a wife and two children, including a specially-abled son.
Depositors, friends and family members of Sanjay Gulati gathered outside his home this afternoon. "Any of us could face a similar fate... Six of my family members have accounts at PMC Bank," a neighbour told NDTV.
"When will get the government and the RBI wake up?" said a woman whose three family members have accounts in PMC Bank.
Depositors have planned a candle light march this evening.
The crisis at the cooperative bank was set off after real estate firm HDIL defaulted on loans from PMC Bank worth Rs. 4,355 crore.
The PMC Bank has been placed under "directions" by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since last month. This means that depositors' withdrawals have been capped. The central bank on Monday raised withdrawal limit for account holders of PMC Bank to Rs. 40,000 from earlier withdrawal limit of Rs. 25,000.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, campaigning for the October 21 state election, has assured that he will take up the PMC Bank crisis with the centre. "We will request the centre to help depositors get their money back. I will personally be following up on this," he said today.