Prisoner on parole, army man among hundreds in queue to exchange notes at RBI in Delhi

A man who claimed he was in jail and an army officer out of country on duty were among hundreds who were standing in a queue outside the RBI on Friday to exchange old currency notes. The RBI in Delhi is among the designated offices accepting old notes, and people from across the country had come to deposit the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency.

On the last day of the extended deadline for exchange of demonetised notes, tempers ran high and confusion prevailed. The Delhi Police had to resort to ‘mild force’ to control the crowds that were beginning to get rowdy and restless. By noon, there were around 800 people outside the RBI office.

March 31 is the last day for people who were outside the country from November 8 to December 31 to get old notes deposited in their accounts through the RBI. For NRIs, this date has been extended to June 30. Many people who were not eligible for the scheme but could not get their old notes exchanged earlier also flocked to the bank in the hope of getting the currency deposited.

Most people claimed they had found money tucked away in forgotten nooks and corners while others said they could not make it to the banks because of ‘genuine difficulties’.

Narveer, from UP’s Shahjahanpur, claimed he was in prison at the time. He has been visiting the bank for two days now in the hope of getting his notes exchanged. “I got arrested six days before Diwali and was released two days before Holi in a fake case of burglary. I have around Rs 47,500 in old notes. But, I am not sure if they will allow me to deposit this. I am now on parole,” he said.

Pooja from Allahabad claimed that she was in her last trimester between November 8 and December 31, and could not stand in queues at banks. However, she was turned down by officials on Friday.

Satyendra Kumar and Amar Nath, who said they were Indian Army personnel, were also in the queue. The two said they were deployed on a UN mission to Israel when demonetisation was announced. The two were hopeful of getting their notes deposited.