Odisha man takes sister's skeleton to bank to claim Rs 20,000 from her account

The man, identified as Jeetu Munda (50) of Dianali village, was seeking to withdraw Rs 20,000 from the bank account of his elder sister, Kalra Munda (56), who died on January 26, 2026.

In Short

• Incident took place at Odisha Grameen Bank in Keonjhar
• Man frustrated as bank demands account holder's presence
• Nominee also dead, man is sole claimant of funds

A tribal man in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Monday brought the skeleton of his dead sister to a bank to withdraw the money deposited in her name, police said.

The incident took place at the Maliposi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank, located in the Patana block of Keonjhar district. The man was identified as Jeetu Munda (50) of Dianali village. He was seeking to withdraw Rs 20,000 from the bank account of his elder sister, Kalra Munda (56), who died two months ago, following an illness. She earned the money through the sale of her cattle.

With no other legal heir, Munda had approached the bank a few days ago to withdraw the money. However, bank officials asked him to produce a death certificate and other necessary documents to process the withdrawal.

However, Munda was unable to furnish the required framework and hence exhumed his sister’s skeletal remains from her burial site.

"I have run to the bank several times, and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw money deposited in her name. Though I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. Therefore, out of frustration, I dug the grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death," an illiterate Jeetu Munda told reporters.

Patana Police Station Inspector in charge (IIC) Kiran Prasad Sahu, who reached the bank after getting information, said, "Jeetu is an illiterate tribal man. He does not know what the legal heir or nominee is. The bank officials have failed to make him understand the procedure to withdraw money from the dead person's account."

However, after the incident, the police assured Jeetu Munda that they would facilitate the withdrawal of money from the bank account of his dead sister. Later, the skeleton was again buried at the graveyard in the presence of the police.

Meanwhile, local Block Development Officer (BDO) Manas Dandpat said that he was not approached by anyone about the legal heir of late Kalra Munda. "Today only, I came to know about it. We will see what can be done to resolve the issue," the BDO said.

Meanwhile, bank sources said that the nominee in Kalra Munda's bank account was also dead. Therefore, Jeetu Munda was the lone claimant over the money deposited in her name.

The local administration has directed the bank officers to make arrangements and ensure that Jeetu Munda, who is the only claimant as per the rules, gets the money as soon as possible.

- Ends