Kujang: Pankapal villagers in this block of Jagatsinghpur district recently offered special prayers to Lord Hanuman hoping Him to save them and their children from monkey menace.
According to villagers, a single monkey has been the source of all troubles for the villagers since last one month. It has so far attacked as many as 21 people, leaving some of them seriously injured.
To get them rid of the simian attack, the villagers had sought the intervention of the Forest department – which is yet to capture the monkey despite trying their best.
Finding no other way after the failure of the officials, the worried and panicked villagers took refuge of the simian God – praying him to prevail upon the wicked monkey.
They thronged the Hanuman temple Saturday where special rituals were performed and Hanuman Chalisa was read out. A yajna (sacred fire) ceremony was also performed.
While Trilochan Das, Niranjan Das and Tarun Das performed the yajna, village committee members Akshaya Kumar Sahu, Ashutosh Kanth, ward member Narendra Nayak along with many others took part in the event.
It is worth mentioning here that Pankapal villagers, as well as residents of Indira Colony here have staged road blockades on many occasions in the past demanding capture of the monkey. They had even locked down the nursery of the Forest department protesting the department’s inefficiency at one point.
The Forest department, in turn, had engaged a tranquiliser team from Nandankanan that failed to nab the monkey. A professional monkey catcher team from Rajnagar was also roped in, but that too did not work.
As the summer vacation is coming to an end, chances are high that children while going to and returning from their schools might fall prey to the monkey. Villagers, particularly parents, are in great worry thinking about safety of their children.
PNN