Indian police said on Saturday they had arrested two men accused of using monkeys to steal money from the streets of the capital, New Delhi.
The duo were arrested after a man, a lawyer, complained to police that three men with monkeys surrounded them and robbed them of 6,000 rupees (67.50 euros), an official told the AFP.
Across the country, authorities are grappling with the threat posed by monkeys in major cities, where they do not hesitate to enter homes in search of food.
But according to a law of 1972, it is forbidden to capture them.
“The victim was on board a motorized rickshaw, the men got on board and asked a monkey to sit in the front seat, another in the back”, detailed the person in charge, adding that ” they took the money the lawyer had in his wallet and ran away with the monkeys ”.
Police suspected a gang to be behind other similar attacks, and a team has been specially created to search for those responsible, finally arrested Thursday at a bus stop, along with their furry accomplices.
The third suspect was nevertheless able to escape, while the monkeys were dropped off at an animal rescue center.
Monkeys are regularly trained to carry out activities in the streets of the country, and attacks on residents by groups of primates are not uncommon.
In 2020, in the city of Meerut (north), a group of monkeys attacked a medical official and tore blood samples belonging to patients declared positive for COVID-19.