December 27, 2001	Thursday	Shawwal 11, 1422

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LAKKI MARWAT, Dec 26: An enraged mob broke the windowpanes of the local branch of National Bank on Wednesday in protest against what they called the “negligence and lethargic attitude” of the bank staff.

According to a witness account, hundreds of telephone subscribers became enraged after they failed to pay their telephone bills at the NBP branch despite standing in the queue for hours.

They said although the subscribers had been waiting since early morning to pay their bills (as it was the last day of paying the bills), a number of bank employees had remained absent for hours while the bank manager had locked himself in his office “just to avoid the people.”

The staff present in the bank were said to have been taking tea and gossiping instead of performing their duties.

At 11am, the people standing in the queue ran out of patience and began scuffling with one another to pay the bill first. The scuffles caused a stampede in which dozens of people received injuries. The people broke the counter and windowpanes of the bank.

This correspondent could not contact the bank manager for his comments, as he locked himself his in office to avoid complainants.

The subscribers condemned the attitude of the bank authorities and lashed out at them for not accepting one and two-rupee notes, which, according to a notification of the State Bank, are acceptable till Dec 31.

The affected people appealed to the authorities concerned to take a stern action against the NBP staff and direct the local branch of Habib Bank to accept phone bills’ payment.