Odisha: Monkey snatches 16-day-old baby boy; 3 teams set to find infant

BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, a monkey on Saturday morning reportedly snatched a 16-day-old baby boy from his parents and fled to jungle at Talabasta village under Banki police limits in Odisha's Cuttack district.

According to reports, the animal lifted the infant, son of Rama Krushna Nayak of the village, while he was sleeping near his parents inside their house.

"At around 6 am, my sister-in-law had just gone to wash her face while her husband was still sleeping beside the baby. The monkey sneaked into the room and took away the baby," Ramakrushna's younger brother's wife said. On being informed, forest officials and fire personnel reached the spot and launched a search operation to trace the baby.

Till last reports came in, the child was yet to be traced.

“We have formed three teams to trace out the infant. Search operations have been intensified," said forest range officer Sangram Keshari Mohanty. The infant's father has resorted to Adhia Puja (prostration) before the village deity praying for safe return of his son.

Several persons were injured in attack by monkeys in the area few days ago. The local residents expressed displeasure over alleged inaction of the Forest Department despite repeated complaints in this regard.