Monkey biz at Ahmedabad mall: Simian holds up shoppers

The rescue of a female monkey and her baby stranded inside a city mall led to much agitation for the rescuers. To carry out the rescue of the primates, fire officials and animal rescue teams from an NGO had to resort to a verbal spat with the security guards and managers of AlphaOne mall near Vastrapur lake on Friday. It was only after the Vastrapur police intervened did things move forward.

Earlier in the afternoon, some of the visitors strolling on the third floor of AlphaOne mall and spotted a female monkey with her baby stranded inside an elevator space. With transparent walls for the elevators, the food court became a gallery for visitors vying to have a dekko at the primate, who seemed to be trying to find a way out.

After receiving a rescue call, some volunteers from animal welfare NGO, Asha Foundation rushed to the spot to help the primates. However, they were stopped near the main gate by security guards. 

“Our boys went there to rescue the animals, but were mistreated by the security guards. We repeatedly asked them to take us to the spot. But they argued with us, which delayed the operation,” said Harmesh Bhatt of Asha Foundation.

Meanwhile, someone had also called the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) to rescue the primates. The AFES team too received a cold welcome from the security guards.

“When we reached the main gate, our volunteers were stopped by the guards. They wanted to check the vehicles and then started misbehaving with us,” said MP Mistry, fire officer of Bodakdev station. According to him, they were forced to call the Vastrapur police after the mall security had already caused much delay.

After dealing with the security guards, the fire officials were once again stopped by some officials from the mall near the atrium. “They told us to leave saying that it was their problem and they would deal with it on their own. Such behavior with firemen on a rescue call is unheard of,” said Mistry, who finally managed to reach the elevator under police supervision and rescued the monkey and her baby.

“We just guided her towards an open vent above the elevator. If we were not stopped, it could have been over much earlier,” he said.
Rajesh Bhatt, addl chief fire officer, also took serious note of the mall authorities behaviour. “This is the second time when they misbehaved with our men in uniform,” Bhatt said.