The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Monkey-around cop loses ear
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040212/asp/bengal/story_2887712.asp

Calcutta, Feb. 11: A policeman lost a ear yesterday in an encounter 
with a monkey.

Rathin Thakur, an officer of assistant commissioner rank in the 
detective department's computer cell, had to be rushed to SSKM 
hospital - where he underwent reconstructive surgery - after a monkey 
bit off his left ear.

Thakur, 56, had left his Belgharia residence, on the northern fringes 
of Calcutta, as usual around 8.30 am to head for the Lalbazar police 
headquarters. On the way, he saw a band of monkeys on rooftops and 
trees.

"The moment he noticed them close to his house, he was excited," said 
an official of Belgharia police station.

The child in the officer took hold and he made some gestures at the 
simians. At this, a monkey sprang from a nearby ledge on to Thakur's 
shoulder. It pulled at his hair and then climbed up a wall.

Thakur again called out to the monkey, which obliged. It came down to 
his shoulder, but this time it snatched his spectacles.

Thakur - known as a calm officer in the circle of city detectives - 
did not lose patience. He began calling the monkey again, this time 
to retrieve his glasses.

"The simian must have suspected something. It threw away the glasses 
and again jumped on to Thakur's shoulder," said the official. "This 
time, however, it was violent. It pulled his head and bit off his 
left ear and fled."

Bloodied and screaming, Thakur slumped on the road. His neighbours 
rushed out and took him to hospital.

Belgharia police station has been receiving a string of complaints 
over the past three days about the monkey menace.