Langur that was attacked by a mob in Bokaro had become ‘a serious public threat'

Indian Express

5 days ago

The langur that was attacked by a mob in Jharkhand's Bokaro during a rescue operation had become a 'public threat' and had attacked several people, forest officials have said.
This comes days after a video that shows a mob of locals attacking a langur with sticks in Bokaro's Sector 11 drew outrage, with animal rights activists calling for action. The incident occurred when a team of forest officials were trying to capture the animal.
According to the forest officials, the incident was a result of 'pent-up' anger over growing attacks over the past few weeks. Residents of the residential colony had repeatedly complained to the Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) township management but no action had been taken, officials said.
The animal had left 15-20 people 'half-dead' over the past few weeks, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rajnish Kumar said, adding that anyone seen in the video would be named in an official police complaint.
'The langur was extremely aggressive. It had assaulted nearly 15-20 people and left some of them half-dead. The langur was so aggressive that it started throwing people to the ground violently. People were terrified and frustrated,' he said.
Officials claimed that on that day, a team of forest officials from Ranchi was trying to capture the animal.
'The langur was briefly restrained but tried to escape, some residents lashed out in anger and attacked it. We intervened immediately, and the rescue was completed within a minute,' the DFO said.
The langur is currently under medical observation at Bokaro's Jawaharlal Nehru Biological Park and is stated to be recovering well.
'There are no major external injuries. It is moving around normally now. If needed, we may send it to Ranchi for further examination,' he said, adding: 'The incident underscores the volatile intersection of human-animal conflict and public emotion, there is a need for sensitive yet lawful intervention.'
Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India.
Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions.
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