On July 10, children who were at a playground in Palakkad district’s Kottayi noticed a few currency notes flying around. It was then that they saw their aged neighbour Thatha, trying to dry the currency notes on the ground. The children immediately informed the police.
According to the police, Thatha, 80, has been living in a room in her house and does not keep any contact with her relatives who live in the same house. She does not allow anybody to enter her room. After she saw a snake in the room, she removed all her stuff. They were kept in sacks outside to dry. Unfortunately, they got wet in the rain. Children who were playing in the grounds noticed her when she was trying to dry the wet notes.
“When we reached there, we saw a heap of currencies. There were five-rupee and 10-rupee notes. Lots of coins were also there. Apart from that, demonetised currency notes were also found. However, with the help of a few local politicians like Kanandas Kottayi (BJP’s local committee president), the currency notes were dried, counted and safely deposited in the bank,” Kottayi Station House Officer (SHO) C Vipin told TNM.
“The majority were five-rupee and 10-rupee notes. The demonetised currencies were more than Rs 30,000. Around Rs 1.5 lakh were deposited in her account,” the officer added.
The officer said that every penny was earned by her through hard work. “That was all her earnings doing different jobs. She worked as a maid, collected scrap and did many other daily wage jobs. So everything was earned by her,” the officer said.
Thatha was not aware about the 2016 banknote demonetisation. “She had a bank account which she hadn't used for many years. She kept all her savings in the sack. Relatives who lived with her did not know that there was money in the sack,” the SHO said.
The police also said that their Janamaithri (people-friendly) wing would frequently keep tabs on the aged woman to see that her relatives treat her well.
Local leaders have assured her that they would help her get money whenever she needs it.