11 monkeys poisoned to death
At least 11 monkeys have allegedly been poisoned to death by some unidentified people in Madhya Khagdi area of Madaripur town.
Locals claimed that some people poisoned the starving monkeys as they became a nuisance in the area.
Some local youths buried seven mammals beside a canal in the area on Tuesday evening. They posted footage and photos of the dead animals on Facebook and demanded justice for their death.
The incident triggered a huge outcry after the footage and photos went viral on social media.
Sources at the local forest department office said there were around 2,500 monkeys in wards-8, 9 of Madaripur municipality.
The forest department distributed food among the monkeys until last week when a 76-day feeding programme ended.
The starving monkeys then started visiting human habitation in search of food, the sources told The Daily Star.
Locals said some people might have given poisoned food to the monkeys to stop the nuisance by them.
Local youth Yasin said, "When we saw many monkeys falling sick in Madhya Khagdi area on Tuesday evening, we tried to pour water into their mouth."
He claimed that at least 15 of the monkeys died and many more were lying ill there.
Yasin said they phoned the forest department and municipal authorities, but the response came late.
Tapas Kumar Sengupta, forest officer of the district, said they visited the area on Wednesday and filed a case in this regard.
He said poisoning animals to death was a heinous crime and those involved in the incident would be brought to justice.
"We have already informed the local lawmaker and the district deputy commissioner about the incident," he added.
Tapas said they gave food to the monkeys for the last three months. Food was given also on Wednesday evening.
Madaripur Sadar OC Kamrul Islam Mia said the forest department filed a case in this regard on Tuesday night.
"Bodies of four monkeys were sent to Madaripur livestock hospital for autopsies," he added.
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