A 73-year-old woman whose family had deposited money in the scam-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank died on Sunday afternoon in Maharashtra’s Solapur city, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. Bharati Sadarangani was purportedly under a lot of stress as her daughter and son-in-law were depositors with the bank.

“My wife and I had accounts at the PMC Bank. All of our life savings are in the bank,” said Sadarangani’s son-in-law Chandan Chotrani. “My wife Hema had been sharing her worries with her mother, who called to check on us daily.”

Last week, four account holders of the bank died within 24 hours in separate incidents. Three of the depositors died due to cardiac arrest as their relatives said they were under “severe stress” while another allegedly committed suicide. The family of one of three account holders, who died due to heart attack, said they were unable to withdraw funds from the bank for a critical heart surgery.

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations that the bank did not report all non-performing assets, or bad loans, after providing funds to several companies. The scam is said to be worth Rs 4,355 crore.

Sadarangani’s family said she had no history of heart disease and was healthy. “The bank is ruining our lives,” Chotrani said. He had reportedly booked an international travel ticket two days before the Reserve Bank of India slapped restrictions on the bank and had to resort to collecting funds to get accommodation since his money was stuck in the bank.

Last month, the RBI imposed curbs on the bank, saying that depositors would not be allowed to withdraw more than Rs 1,000 from the bank for six months. The withdrawal limit was raised to Rs 25,000, and on Monday, it raised it to Rs 40,000. However, the central bank said PMC Bank would not be allowed to grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment, incur any liability including borrowal of funds.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on October 15 said he would ask the Centre to resolve the PMC Bank crisis after the Assembly elections in the state, which were held on October 21.

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