Watch: Bank guard fires shots into the air to disperse crowd outside HDFC branch in Punjab
Several incidents of violence have been reported in the serpentine queues outside banks in the month since demonetisation was announced.
In the days since demonetisation was announced on November 8, several incidents of violence have reported around India. Social media has been filled with videos depicting the chaos outside banks and ATMs, complete with minor stampedes and guards beating customers with their batons.
A video (above) has captured another incidence of violence in Budhlada, a town in Punjab. A security guard posted at an HDFC branch in the town fired three shots in the air to get the crowd to stand in line.
“The crowd got so impatient that the glass doors of the bank developed cracks,” a senior police official told the Hindustan Times. “Out of fear, the guard fired a gunshot in the air to disperse the crowd. No FIR has been lodged as there was no malicious intent behind the firing,” the DSP added.
However, Umed Singh, Barwala station house officer, told The Tribune that Anil Kumar, the guard involved in the incident has been booked under Section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter).
On November 23, a video (below) showing members of the home guard lathi-charge people standing in line outside State Bank of India’s Kishanpur branch had gone viral. After the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended superintendent of police of Fatehpur district Ram Kishore and station officer of Kishanpur police station Sanjay Kumar Yadav.