Fit, alive 40-yr-old man declared dead on records; fails to avail bank, govt benefits

Hathras: In a bizarre case, a 40-year-old man in Hathras district's Majhola village, for the past few days has not been able to avail banking services and benefits of government-sponsored schemes, as their records showed him as dead.

Om Prakash on Thursday claimed that the pradhan of his village, Rajesh, has paid money to patwari Devendra Agarwal to have him declared dead on paper about a month ago.

He said he came to know about it when he had approached the banks and the post office to avail the benefits under various government schemes.

Over there, he was informed of being legally dead and hence could not be given those benefits.

Prakash, however, did not explain why the pradhan did what he did.

When questioned about the matter, Sadabad Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jay Prakash said, "They have received a complaint in this regard from Om Prakash and have sent a notice to the patwari, asking him to clarify his position within three days."

Further action will be taken once we receive patwari's reply, Prakash added.