The sight of a man bringing the remains of his dead sister to a bank in India after officials had refused to let him withdraw money without proof of her death has caused shock in India.

Jitu Munda, 52, from the Indian state of Odisha, was captured on video carrying the remains of his recently deceased sister through the streets of Keonjhar and placing them outside the local bank.

Munda said he had exhumed her remains out of frustration, as bank officers repeatedly refused to let him withdraw the money left in her account without official proof of death.

The bank denied requesting any physical presence of the deceased and said they had only requested the legally required documents to prove her death.

Munda, who is from a poor tribal community, said before his sister Kalara died several months ago, she had sold some of her livestock, leaving a much-needed 19,300 rupees (£150) in her account. But as he tried multiple times to retrieve the money after her death, officials repeatedly refused, requesting a death certificate that had not yet been issued.

“When the bank manager refused to listen and kept asking for proof, I got frustrated,” he told BBC Hindi. “I brought the skeleton to show that she had died.”

According to accounts, the police intervened and encouraged Munda to return his sister’s body to the burial ground with assurances his complaint would be addressed.

In rural villages across India, it can often take weeks, even months, for a formal death certificate to be issued which is often a source of bureaucratic trauma for relatives left behind.

As the video of Munda carrying his sister’s body went viral in India, it prompted nationwide shock and outrage, with many calling it “heartbreaking” and an example of the “lack of humanity” in Indian bureaucracy, particularly for marginalised tribal communities.

In a statement, Indian Overseas Bank disputed Munda’s account and said staff had only been following standard procedures after other heirs had also come forward to claim the woman’s savings. “The bank’s intention was to protect the interest of the poor tribal [woman’s] monies in the account,” they said in the statement, describing it as a “highly distressing situation at the premises”.

This week, officials confirmed the death certificate had been issued and the money given to the relatives. A minister from the Odisha state government said the case was under investigation.

Northern Territory police say one person is facing charges and more are expected over unrest in Alice Springs after the arrest of a man in connection with the death of five-year-old girl.

The grandfather of Kumanjayi Little Baby, whose body was found on Thursday 5km from the Old Timers town camp where she was last seen alive on Saturday night, called for calm in the central Australian town on Friday, saying the violent confrontation between police and others at Alice Springs hospital was not “our way”.

The town is in deep mourning over the girl’s death of the girl.

Police arrested 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis late on Thursday in connection to the child’s disappearance. Authorities had been searching for him since Sunday.

The Northern Territory police commissioner, Martin Dole, told reporters in Alice Springs on Friday that Lewis had “presented himself to one of the town camps” on Thursday night.

“As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson and we received numerous phone calls saying he was in the process of being assaulted,” he said. “We responded very quickly and we stopped that from continuing.”

He said Lewis had been subjected to a “sustained attack” and was unconscious when police and ambulance officers arrived. They had then been “assaulted” by the crowd at the town camp, he said, with one police officer requiring stitches.

“We conveyed Mr Lewis to the Alice Springs hospital and shortly afterward a large crowd gathered and tried to gain access to that hospital and access to Mr Lewis,” he said. “Police responded and we called out all the resources that we had available to quell that violence and disturbance …

“Those people involved, you will face the law just as Jefferson Lewis is facing the law and your behaviour will not be accepted by us.”

A crowd of about 400 people assembled outside the hospital as word spread of the arrest. A police car was set alight, four other police cars and four of the region’s five ambulances were damaged, bins and bushes were set on fire and nearby businesses were trashed. One woman was arrested for allegedly trying to set a police car alight. Dole said officers from the territory response group had used “less-than-lethal munitions and chemical munitions” against the crowd.

Robin Granites, a senior Warlpiri elder and spokesperson for the family of Kumantjayi Little Baby, acknowledged people’s anger as the community grapples with grief but urged the town to come together and respect the family.

“It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering,” Granites said. “Everyone is feeling very upset and emotions are very high.

“Our children are precious, of course we are feeling angry and hurt at what has happened.

“This man has been caught, thanks to community action, and we must now let justice take its course while we take the time to mourn Kumantjayi Little Baby and support our family.”

Dole said Lewis had been transferred to Darwin in the early hours of Friday morning due to safety concerns “for himself and emergency service workers”. He had been discharged from hospital into police custody.

The police commissioner said the violence outside the hospital was unacceptable and “an aberration” from a community which had pulled together to search for, and now grieve, Kumanjayi Little Baby.

“I just call for calm across the community today,” he said.

The NT chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, said she understood the grief and anger but unrest was neither acceptable nor reflective of the community.

“This week we’ve seen this town come together like never before, hundreds of people walking shoulder to shoulder through the long buffel grass, through the bush, to make sure we left no stone unturned,” she said.

Finocchiaro said bottle shops would be closed on Friday and takeaway alcohol sales on Saturday would be limited to between 11am and 2pm. Sunday already has restricted alcohol sales, and Monday and Tuesday are dry days.

Dole told reporters that anyone seeking justice through traditional Warlpiri lore would have to respect the “one law” operating in the NT.

“There’s one law, and that one law applies to everybody, Dole said. “Including the people that were involved in the violence last night.

“Now Mr Lewis is in police custody. There will be a prosecution and the court case will proceed. I am telling the community that that’s what’s going to occur and that needs to be accepted by the community.”

Former oil and gas industry leaders, including senior executives from BP and Shell, are warning the Albanese government that Australians risk ongoing price shocks and higher costs if it prioritises fossil fuel development in response to the global energy crisis.

Sixteen ex-executives and professionals – who had worked for companies including Woodside, Inpex, ExxonMobil and Esso – have urged the government to reject calls for fast-tracked gas and coal extraction, arguing it would do nothing to improve the nation’s liquid fuel security.

They said Australia’s limited potential oil reserves – such as the Taroom trough, championed by the Queensland LNP government – would probably offer less than a year of supply even if fully exploited.

“[They] are not a real solution within any realistic timeframe,” the ex-fossil fuel leaders said in a joint statement. “The speculative resources spruiked by some would take a decade or more to develop, and provide only a fraction of our energy needs temporarily.”

Signatories to the statement included former BP Australasia president
Greg Bourne, ex-BP vice-president for global projects Russell Smith, and Bernard Wheelahan, a former director of Shell Australia, president of Shell Venezuela and chair of lobby group the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (now known as Australian Energy Producers).

They said Australia should back policies that “accelerate renewable energy deployment, modernise the grid and support large-scale electrification” to minimise reliance on oil. “Every electric vehicle on the road, electric vehicle in a mine and battery replacing a diesel generator frees up diesel fuel for the rest – permanently,” they said.

The statement was echoed in an unrelated speech by the chair of the federal government agency the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean. He told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia event in Melbourne on Thursday that calls for more drilling for fossil fuels during an oil crisis defied logic.

“That’s like fixing a gambling debt by going back down the casino. It makes no sense,” he said.

The federal government is considering expanded support to ensure fuel supplies and encourage electrification in this month’s federal budget. The federal Coalition and the gas lobby call for faster approvals for fossil fuel projects.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, indicated on Wednesday he would not undermine existing gas export contracts by introducing a 25% gas export tax, saying he was focused on maintaining relationships with Asian countries that buy Australian gas and supply liquid fossil fuels. He dismissed a campaign for a gas tax that polls suggest has strong community support as dishonest and populist.

The ex-gas and oil leaders said expanding drilling and quickly approving new fossil fuel projects in response to the fuel crisis caused by the Iran war “may appear, on the surface, easy options” but risked locking Australia into outdated infrastructure and exposing households to “continuing price shocks”.

They said some gas would still be required, including to “firm” renewable energy generation, but Australia already had enough to meet future demand. “Fossil fuel lobbying has slowed the transition from petrostate to electrostate for decades at great cost to Australians. It must not be allowed to happen again.”

Bourne, now a director with the Climate Council, said the signatories to the statement had experience across oil and gas businesses, including management, drilling, geology and finance.

He said they had largely worked with oil and gas companies when those businesses were planning to shift from fossil fuels to broader energy interests, including clean investments, as they “began to see climate change was a significant and strategic issue that needed to be managed”. Those plans had since been dropped in many cases, he said.