A 45-year-old farmer tried to commit suicide by consuming pesticide at a bank in Narayanpur near here on Saturday after failing to withdraw cash, as a cheque deposited by him had not been credited to his account.
A bank official said the number of cheques being received for clearance has increased four-fold of late.
“Radhashyam Prajapat, who tried to commit suicide, has been admitted to the district hospital. He is out of danger,” said Superintendent of Police OP Tripathi.
Prajapat had deposited a cheque of `24,000 with the bank on November 24. He became extremely upset on finding the cheque not being credited. He opened a bottle of pesticide and drank it, the police officer said.
Other customers in the bank quickly snatched the bottle and rushed him to hospital, said Tripathi, adding investigation into the incident is on.
Informing that Prajapat's cheque had been sent for clearance, branch manager Sunil Dohre claimed the moment the branch gets a cheque it is sent for clearance. But in the last few days number of cheques received by the branch had increased four-fold, he added.
“Earlier, our branch used to receive around 25 cheques daily. Now the number has swelled to 100. Right now we have around 50 cheques pending with us for clearance,” said Dohre, adding sometimes clearance of cheque is delayed.
In-charge Collector Arjun Singh said the matter is being investigated and if the bank officials found guilty, stern action would be taken against them.