Banki: Forest staff and desperate people of Talabasta village under Banki police limits in Odisha’s Cuttack district are on the hunt for a 15-day-old baby boy, who was snatched from his parents by a monkey in the early hours of Saturday.
Sources said wife of Ramakrushna Nayak aka Kathia of Talabasta village had given birth to a baby boy, 15 days ago.
On Friday night, the couple was sleeping with their baby in the courtyard inside their house. In the early morning hours, the woman went inside the room, leaving the baby with the father, when a monkey suddenly picked the baby boy.
The panicked mother raised alarm. Before the husband could react, the simian fled the area by scaling the roof of the house.
After the couple informed the villagers, they began a frantic search for the boy. Following information, the forest officials rushed to the village and started search operation.
Till reports last came in, there was no trace of the baby boy.
The sources further said the baby had a problem in crying at the time of the birth for which he was recently admitted to Banki Sub-Divisional Hospital.
“As the baby boy has a problem in crying, it has become difficult for us to trace him in the forest as we cannot hear his voice,” a forest official said.
Talking to mediapersons, the villagers said the monkeys from the nearby Damapada reserve forest have been creating havoc in the region for several years, attacking and injuring some of them.
Meanwhile, 30 forest staff in three teams led by the Ranger of Damapada Forest Range, Sangram Keshari Mohanty, have intensified search operation inside the nearby forest to rescue the baby.
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