Demonetisation: Delhi banks witness serpentine queues, ugly spats

Ugly verbal spats and fights broke out outside numerous banks in the Capital on Thursday as thousands queued up to exchange their defunct Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. The Delhi Police Control Room received nearly 700 calls about the chaos at banks during the day. The department had asked senior officers, including DCPs and Joint CPs, to closely supervise the arrangements to ensure an incident-free day, which was not to be.

"I had to stand here for three hours to get Rs4,000 exchanged," said an angry Sandhya Sharma, while coming out of a Lajpat Nagar branch of the State Bank of India (SBI). In Janakpuri, people had a scuffle with the bank employees when the latter decided to close for the day at 3pm. Some people even tried to stop the traffic and the local police had to be called in to bring the situation under control. Areas in north-east, north-west and east Delhi also witnessed similar scenes.

The Delhi Police, however, claimed that they had made adequate arrangements to ensure law and order in the city. Extra police personnel were deployed at all banks. Places with multiple ATMs also saw heavy police deployment. In addition, cops were deployed at Kendriya Bhandars, Safal centres, pharmacies, hospitals, and Mother Dairy centres, among other vulnerable spots. This additional personnel deployment will start again at 9am on Friday.

Meanwhile, even though most banks open at 10am, people had started gathering outside them around 6am. "My daughter is getting married tomorrow and we are out of cash. I never thought that we will have to face this situation on such an important day," said Lajpat Nagar resident Nimita Khurana.

Four members of the Sachdeva family had queued up outside the Amar Colony SBI branch. "My son is getting married tomorrow and so much work is pending. We are out of cash. My wife has been getting panic attacks since yesterday," said Sanchit Sachdeva.

Many elderly people also had to wait in queues for hours. "I have arthritis and can't stand for long. Today, I had to stand for an hour and when my turn came, the guard told me to bring a copy of my identity card. I went back to get that done and then had to wait again in the queue," said Leela Singh, 69, a retired teacher.

Anita Kumari of North Delhi's Shakti Nagar was in for even worse luck. She waited outside the SBI for a deposit counter token for two hours in a queue that stretched for 2km, but all in vain. The bank shut for lunch by the time her turn came.

"I had to return empty-handed after two hours. I will have to go again and get shoved and pushed for my own money," she rued.

In some areas, minor scuffles broke out when frustrated people started pushing each other. Ram Singh, a security guard at a Mayur Vihar bank, said: "The crowd is getting out of control. Customers are pushing each other in a rush to enter the bank." He added that he regretted not taking the day off.

Several such scuffles were reported in north and west Delhi areas, including Rajouri Garden, Shakti Nagar, Kamal Nagar, Karol Bagh, and Indirapuram, among others.

"I had gone to the Canara Bank in Rajouri to exchange money. People standing at the back of the queue started pushing. I fell down and hurt my hand," said Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old student.