Representative Image 
Tamil Nadu

20 simians get trapped even as foresters deny monkey theory in baby’s death

The monkey incident in Thanjavur got a different spin, as forest officials rejected the theory of monkeys carrying away the twin infants claiming that they are capable of lifting objects weighing between 200 and 500 grams, while the babies, generally, weigh between 2 and 2.5 kg.

migrator

Thiruchirapalli

Soon after some monkeys reportedly took away twin babies which were sleeping in a house and dropped one of the infants to death in a pond while the other one was rescued from the roof of the same house, Collector M Govinda Roa ordered to catch all the simians from residential areas. 

A team of 15 forest officials had swung into action, placed cages at different places and caught around 20 monkeys. Later, all of them were released into the Pachamalai forests. 

Commenting about the Saturday tragedy in Thanjavur, forest officials raised several doubts. According to District Forest Officer Ilayaraja, initial investigations into the tragedy was over and monkeys from this region could lift only objects weighing between 200 and 500 grams. “If you observe monkeys carrying their babies, the mother will not hold the young one, instead the little ones only used to cling on to the back of its mother. It is also not possible for a monkey to lift babies weighing between 2 and 2.5 kg through the wall,” he explained. 

Ilayaraja also said that there was no injury on both the babies, the deceased as well as the rescued one. “Anyway, we will study the post-mortem report and then decide on the next course of investigation,” he said.

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android

2026 TN elections | Observers for all segments to arrive on May 2

Married one day, widowed the next: Inside Koovagam festival

Over 1 Lakh admissions in Tamil Nadu goverment schools; Anbumani calls it a failure

Tamil Nadu: In a first, guest lecturers to get April salary on time

Kerala Crime Branch to probe dental student death case