Monkey injures seven villagers; tranquillised

Bhubaneswar: A monkey in Ghantikhal village under Athgarh forest division attacked and injured seven persons on Tuesday, forcing forest personnel to tranquillise the animal.
Panicked over the monkey’s aggressive behaviour, villagers sought help of the Athgarh forest division, which, in turn, took the help of experts from Nandankanan zoological park to dart the ape.
“The monkey was tranquillised following due procedure. After it regained consciousness, it was taken for a health check-up. Most of the time behaviour of monkeys changes because people tend to irritate them. The monkey will be released at some other forest away from where the incident took place,” principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Susanta Nanda said.
Forest officials ruled out that the monkey was mad. Villagers have been asked not to irritate the monkeys, who roam on the outskirts. “The monkey was separated from the herd. We are also keeping watch on another monkey, which has also injured some people,” said a forest personnel engaged in the rescue operation.