Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday ordered a probe after a 75-year-old tribal man allegedly died due to lack of treatment following repeated failed attempts to withdraw his pension from a bank in Garhwa district.
The deceased, identified as Ratan Lakra (75), had allegedly been made to visit a bank branch in Badgadh for the past three months as his pension could not be processed because of "incomplete e-KYC", family members claimed.
Taking strong exception to the incident, the CM directed the Garhwa deputy commissioner through a social media post to promptly investigate the matter, take strict action against those found responsible and submit a report.
"My father-in-law had been making rounds of the bank in Badgadh for the past three months for his pension. But he was not given his pension by the bank, saying his e-KYC was pending. He was ill and could not get the required treatment because of money," Phulmani Lakra told reporters while staging a dharna outside the bank branch on Monday.
She alleged that the family had requested the bank's regional manager to complete the e-KYC process to enable withdrawal of the pension for Lakra's treatment.
"On the manager's intervention, the e-KYC was completed, but the money could not be withdrawn, and my father-in-law died on Monday," she claimed.
A bank official, however, said that after the e-KYC process was completed, no one came to the branch to withdraw the money.
Meanwhile, Garhwa Deputy Commissioner Pashupati Nath Mishra constituted a team to investigate the incident.
Responding to the CM on social media, the deputy commissioner said immediate action had been taken, and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Ranka had been directed to conduct a detailed inquiry.
He said strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty after the investigation and assured that all assistance due under government rules would be extended to Lakra's family.