Kalyan: Monkey who loved watching TV and sipping cola caught after 17 days

The residents eventually trapped the animal in a tank and drove him to the forestThe residents of Gangagiri building in Kalyan have bid farewell to their most controversial guest yet a monkey who entered all the houses and feasted on mangoes and cola while chilling in front of the TV and AC Over the course of 17 days while the residents waited for the forest officials to take him away the monkey became a dear playmate for the children who would feed him mangoesEventually the adults took matters into their own hands and sent him to live in the forests of Haji Malang The monkey business began 17 days ago when the animal suddenly appeared in the home of the residents Vasantrao Suryawanshi Due to the scorching heat and humidity we used to keep our windows open through the daySuddenly 17 days ago this monkey entered my home and ate one of our mangoes My mother saw him inside and started shouting By the time I got to the scene though he had vanished Because of him we would keep our windows shut all the time and use the AC instead Thanks to him our electricity bill might be high this timeEntertainment valueNot everyone thought of the monkey as a nuisance or threat In fact to many his disruptions were more entertaining He was very nice and never troubled us But he would enter any house and switch on the TV Once he switched on the TV in my house I thought my mother was watching television but when I entered the room I saw the monkey with the remote in his hand I did not know whether I should laugh or throw him out said another resident Mahesh RaykarThe determined monkey would climb in from any open windows he found in Gangagiri buildingBut Raykar was among the residents who eventually realised that the monkey did not belong among them after the animal started causing trouble by stealing or breaking the remote controls to the AC or TVTwice or thrice he switched on the AC in our neighbours house When we spotted him he would vanish with the remote or throw it on the floor recalled RaykarYet another resident found the monkey rummaging in his fridge only to pull out a bottle of cola and take a swig from it I think he used to like cola Twice he opened our fridge and drank coke and took a fruit I shouted at him so he ran away He knew exactly where we kept our fruits and water bottles in the fridge said Bhima PawarMangoes were the monkeys favourite food and the local children would feed him some every dayChildren loved himFor the children in the building the monkey was the highlight of their summer vacation Vasantraos son Rishikesh a Std VIII student said He used to enter our house from the kitchen window The first time I saw him grabbing a mango I got scared But later my friends and I started playing with him He would just imitate whatever we did It was really fun Once we were dancing so he tried to dance as well but then ended up just jumping here and there We are all really upset ever since my parents sent him to the forestSayli Kamble a Std VII student said I would give him bananas for lunch every day Once I gave him a chapati but he threw it away When I went home he came in from the kitchen window and took a mango from our boxResidents take actionBut the adults had had enough of monkeying around We called the forest department officials in Kalyan and wrote to them as well asking them to rescue the monkey But they told us to trap the monkey and then call them said VasantraoWe kept an open tank outside the building and placed a few bananas on it On Monday around 11 am the monkey went to eat the bananas With the help of a stick we pushed the fruit into the tank and the monkey went inside too We immediately covered the opening with a net and called the forest officials After waiting for over five hours we just drove the animal to Haji Malang where we have seen many other monkeys he addedOfficialspeakMurlidhar Jatkar range forest officer from the Thane forest department said The society members informed us about the monkey and we guided them on how to rescue it We do not have enough manpower so we asked an animal welfare volunteer to help them but by the time he reached the society the residents had already rescued the animal That monkey was not harmful to anyone Haji Malang is a forested area and they have sent the monkey to the right place We were following up with the residents at every pointAlso Read Mumbai Monkey who was a menace at Lower Parel station shot with tranquilliser and rescued