A 45-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide as he was apparently upset over not being able to get his high-denomination notes exchanged for fresh ones due to serpentine queues in banks.

The farmer Ravi Pradhan's wife Pushplata claimed that he was in urgent need of money to help their two sons who were in Tamil Nadu, but was facing inconvenience after old high currency (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000) notes were banned.

"Pradhan's body was found hanging at his house in Maharajpur village under Saria development block in the night of November 12," Sarangarh Sub Divisional Officer of Police Junas Bada said.

"The exact cause that prompted him to take the extreme step was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found at the spot," he said.

As per preliminary information, Pradhan was ailing and was undergoing treatment. The statement of his wife was yet to be recorded, he said.

A case has been registered in this connection, the SDOP said, adding that further probe was on.

"My two sons Sunil, 22, and Anil, 20, were working at a yarn mill in Tamil Nadu. On November 10, one of my sons called his father (through his mobile) and informed that they urgently need money as their contractor escaped without giving them their wages. They wanted to come back home for which they were in need of cash," she said.

As old currency notes were scrapped, Pradhan had to immediately go to the bank for the exchange.

He stood in queues for two consecutive days at a bank branch in Saraia, around two kms away from Maharajpur, to get exchanged Rs 3,000, but unfortunately he could not reach the counter (before the bank shut down), she claimed.

"He was extremely upset with it," she said.-- PTI