AGRA: Five days after a 12-day-old infant was killed by a monkey in Runkata area, on the outskirts of the city, two toddlers were attacked on Friday night by simians when they were asleep in their house.The two toddlers, 11-month-old Khushi and nine-month-old Payal, were scratched and bitten on the face. Khushi was sleeping beside her grandmother, Durga Devi, while Payal was sleeping by her mother Pankaj Devi's side when attacked between 11-12 pm. The attacks have left local residents both frightened and angry. They have blamed the "lackadaisical"approach of the administration for the rising cases of monkey attacks. On Tuesday, a 21-year-old fractured a leg after he was chased by monkey in Runkata. The incident happened just couple of houses away from where the 12-day infant was snatched from his mother's arm by a monkey.On Monday night, a 59-year-old woman had bled to death after a monkey had bitten her in Kagraul area.The latest attacks have perplexed wildlife experts who claim that monkeys naturally do not exhibit such violent behaviour, especially towards children.Speaking with TOI, Runkata gram pradhan's husband, Munna Sikarwar, said, "All the three attacks, including the one in which a 12-day infant was killed, are similar. All three victims suffered grave injuries on and around their face and the attacks happened at night. We believe the same monkey is attacking the children." He said, "In the past few years, Runkata has seen a burgeoning monkey population and the prime reason is that simians captured elsewhere are released in Kitham forest, which is 15km from Runkata. Since there is no food in Kitham, these monkeys have migrated towards the residential area in search of food and now, have become aggressive. Several reminders were sent to the district administration to help us against monkey menace, but no concrete steps have been taken."Yogesh Singh, father of the deceased infant, said a water park adjacent to Runtaka attracts monkeys as visitors feed them and scatter leftovers. Speaking with TOI, Baiju Raj, coordinator of Wildlife SOS, who has been entrusted with the task of identifying and treating aggressive monkeys in Runkata, said, "The latest attacks have perplexed us as monkeys are naturally inactive at night and don't exhibit such violent behaviour, especially towards children. We have now stationed our team in Runkata with a cage to keep tab on monkey movement and catch the aggressive ones, which will later be sterilized and treated for behaviour change."He added that relocating monkeys has an adverse affect on them as hunger pangs in a new area makes them aggressive as they have to search for food.District magistrate of Agra N G Ravi Kumar said, "A proposal has been sent to the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) from forest department in order to curb the monkey menace across Agra. Meanwhile, the forest department is taking help of Wildlife SOS to identify the aggressive monkey, which will be caught and treated."

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