No monkey business: Simian ‘robs’ man in front of bank, escapes with Rs 1.4 lakh

In a bizarre incident, a monkey ‘robbed’ a man in Agra who was going to deposit Rs 2 lakh in the bank.  The monkey who grabbed the bag scattered some notes, worth around Rs 60,000 but got away with the rest of the money. 

A monkey snatched the bag, and the incident has left our cops clueless as they’re unsure which section to book a case under.

Bansal told Times Now:  “A group of monkeys snatched the bag. I managed to recover just Rs 60,000. They even attacked me. All my hard-earned money is gone. Police did question some people but nothing happened.”

Bansal told the channel that he’d meet senior police officials after the local police were stumped about the incident and couldn’t decide which section of the IPC to invoke for this particular case.

Bansal was about to enter the Indian Overseas Bank in the Nai Ki Mandi area on Monday morning with his daughter holding a bag of Rs 2 lakh in cash.

Bansal said, “There were many monkeys in the area and one of them suddenly snatched the bag as we were climbing the stairs. The monkey quickly jumped to the top floors and we were helpless as we couldn’t do anything.”

The bank staff assembled at the spot after the incident. The monkey tore up the bag and scattered RS 60,000 on the ground which were recovered. Agra has been plagued by the monkey menace and a group of tourists were attacked by simians at the Taj Mahal.

Last week, two French tourists were attacked by a pack of monkeys at Taj Mahal, the 17th century monument of love, in Agra district this morning, officials said. CISF personnel rescued the tourists, who sustained minor bruises, and administered first aid to them, they said.

"In the recent months, monkeys and dogs have been entering Taj Mahal and scaring away the tourists. Hordes of monkeys enter Taj Mahal from the riverside. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should ensure the visitors' safety," a tourist guide, Ved Gautam had said

"We have been repeatedly writing to the Agra Municipal Corporation to take appropriate steps to manage the simian nuisance, but there has been no response," Superintending Archaeologist of ASI, Agra, Bhuvan Vikram told PTI.

The Agra Municipal Corporation had some time ago planned to relocate monkeys from the city, but a lack of resources prevented the implementation of the exercise.

A local NGO suggested mass sterilisation of the primates as a solution, but a lack of funds prevented the municipal authorities from implementing this idea too.

Local residents are also facing problems due to the growing number of monkeys.

"They destroy all plants. We have had to get iron grills installed to protect our small garden," said a local resident Himani Dixit, who is passionate about gardening. 

With inputs from PTI