Robbers who 'trained monkeys to intimidate victims into handing over cash' are arrested in India 


Robbers who ‘trained monkeys to intimidate victims into handing over cash’ are arrested in India

  • Two men arrested after using monkeys to intimidate people to hand over cash 
  • One alleged victim forced to hand over 6,000 rupees (£60) during one incident 
  • Police say a third thief connected to the incident in New Dehli is still at large 

Two robbers who allegedly trained monkeys to intimidate victims into handing over cash have been arrested in India. 

The men taught the primates, who are known to attack people for items, to scare members of the public in New Delhi into handing over their valuable possessions. 

One alleged victim, a lawyer, claimed three men jumped inside a rickshaw he was travelling in and invited two monkeys to sit on the front and back seat before demanding he hand over 6,000 rupees (close to £60).

A gang of robbers are alleged to have trained monkeys into intimidated people in New Dehli to hand over their valuable possessions. Picture: Stock

A gang of robbers are alleged to have trained monkeys into intimidated people in New Dehli to hand over their valuable possessions. Picture: Stock

A spokesperson for the police in New Dehli said: ‘They took the money the lawyer had in his wallet and fled with the monkeys.’

Police suspected the gang were behind other similar thefts and officers set up a dedicated team to track down the culprits, who were arrested Thursday at a bus stop along with their animal accomplices. 

The pair’s gang of monkeys were sent to an animal rescue following an investigation into the ‘strange case involving monkeys’ was launched. . 

The third thief is still at large while the monkeys have been sent to an animal rescue centre.

A lawyer in the city, who claims to be a victim of the gang, said they got back in his rickshaw along with the monkeys and demanded he hand over 6,000 rupees (around £60). Picture: Stock

A lawyer in the city, who claims to be a victim of the gang, said they got back in his rickshaw along with the monkeys and demanded he hand over 6,000 rupees (around £60). Picture: Stock

Authorities across India have been grappling with the menace posed by monkeys in Delhi and other populated cities, where they often enter homes in search of food.

But it is illegal for Indians to capture them under a 1972 law.

Monkeys are often trained as street performers in India and incidences of the hairy simians attacking residents are not uncommon.

Last year a troop of monkeys attacked a medical official and snatched blood samples of patients who had tested positive for coronavirus in Meerut city in northern India.

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