BHUBANESWAR: Days after completing the herculean mission of rescuing Bahanaga train accident victims, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are facing a tough time due to frequent attacks by a monkey which is suspected to be mentally unstable.
The monkey strayed into NDRF’s 3rd Battalion campus in Mundali on June 13 and has been wreaking havoc since. The animal has reportedly attacked 10 to 15 NDRF personnel and bitten at least six of them. On Sunday, a NDRF jawan on guard duty at the guest house, was bitten by the monkey. The injured personnel was admitted to a private hospital in the capital city.
The monkey has been seen on a hilltop around 200 metre from the campus where the force has its motor training organisation, dog squad, guest house and other facilities.“We had intimated forest officials of the matter in a letter on June 13. The Forest department has been sending its personnel to the campus but they leave after a few hours,” said an NDRF personnel.
The Forest department has reportedly placed a cage on the campus to capture the monkey but it is not working properly. “We are keeping bananas inside the cage to lure the monkey. On Sunday, the monkey entered the cage two to three times and managed to escape as its trap door was not functioning,” said the personnel.
Forest officials are not even trying to tranquilise the monkey, said another jawan. “Our teams are always willing to undertake any operation for the safety of the people and we do not leave the spot until the task is complete but it seems the authorities are not concerned about our well-being. Fortunately, the monkey is not coming near the quarters else many others could get attacked,” the personnel said. Meanwhile, NDRF has dispatched its three teams comprising 25 personnel each to Puri on Rath Yatra duty.