Bangalore(DC): Cops of the Forest Mobile Squad raided an apartment complex on Hosur Road on 3rd Nov midnight and freed 22 trapped monkeys.
Some flat owners at Lakshmi Symphony Apartment, who had got the monkeys trapped, and a tribal, who had caught the macaques have been booked.
Some apartment owners, who were opposed to the trapping of monkeys, alerted the BBMP Forest Cell, which handed over the case to the Forest Mobile Squad.
They later arrested the Hakki Pikki tribesman, Ramu, and freed the monkeys that were bundled into a small net. All the macaques were in good health and the entire group was released into the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
The officials said that Ramu, who hails from Punganur in Andhra Pradesh, carried a permission letter issued by the forest department to catch monkeys at Vagdevi Vilas School. It is suspected that he was carrying a photocopy of the same letter, claiming it to be an authorization to catch monkeys anywhere.
“There is a rise in incidents of conflict between apartment dwellers and macaques.Since they have lost their natural Habitat, there has been a change in the behavior of urban monkeys. They can survive on anything that we eat in our daily lives. One should stop feeding the monkeys,” said Sharat Babu from the BBMP Forest Cell