GUJRAT: In a bizarre act, two sisters withdrew Rs1.7 million in cash from their account on Thursday and burnt the currency notes in front of the bank branch in Jhelum.

Jhelum’s District Police Officer Afzal Butt confirmed the incident and said that 40-year-old Naheed and 35-year-old Rubina of the city’s Bilal Town area visited the Chak Nasa branch of National Bank of Pakistan three days ago to withdraw Rs1.7m from a fixed deposit account.

Due to procedural and other issues involved, the bank manager told the sisters that their request could not be met immediately, the police officer said.

So, the two women visited the bank branch again on Thursday and asked the manager to give them the money.

“The sisters were handed over the money at about noon. They took the currency notes outside the branch and simply set them afire,” Mr Butt said.

An eyewitness told police that when a shopkeeper and a passer-by tried to stop the sisters from burning the notes, the elder one whipped out a pistol and said they had every right to do whatever they wanted to. Soon, a large number of people gathered around the two women, only to look at the currency notes burning. Police later arrived at the scene and collected the ashes.

According to a source, the women had deposited Rs2.8m with the bank about a year ago after selling the property they had inherited from their father Raja Muhammad Iqbal, who was killed in mysterious circumstances a couple of years ago.

Mr Butt said the sisters were unmarried and resided separately from their two younger brothers.

All the siblings are suffering from mental ailments, according to some residents of their neighbourhood.