GUWAHATI/PUNE: A cash-carrying van was today attacked in Assam killing the driver and three more deaths due to apparent stress were reported as people failed to get any respite from chaotic scenes outside ATMs and banks eight days after demonetisation and struggled to secure valid currency.
Cash-strapped people were seen waiting in frustration in serpentine queues in towns and cities as most of the cash dispensing machines ran out of cash within hours after being stocked, while thousands of ATMs were still not functional.
Amid frayed tempers, more and more people across the country were complaining about problems with regard to their daily basic needs as most local stores stopped lending goods and other essential items on credit.
Banks and post offices also started using the indelible ink on customers exchanging the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in a bid to prevent syndicates and suspicious people coming to a branch repeatedly and misusing the note-exchange facility.
Pledging solidarity with the common man’s sufferings, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi made an unscheduled brief stop at an ATM in suburban Vakola in Mumbai and interacted with the people standing in a queue there, while he was returning from Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district after attending a court matter.
A vehicle carrying cash, withdrawn from a bank and kept in a police station last night, was going to Pengeri Tea estate in Tinsukia district in Assam when it was fired upon by unidentified miscreants at Digboi killing the driver on the spot and injuring a garden employee and a security personnel in the vehicle, police said. (AGENCIES)
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