BIJNOR: When restaurant owner Mohd Nazim, 24, of Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh found an injured baby monkey on his rooftop 18 months ago, he got it treated and soon the two developed an inseparable bond.Nazim, who lives in Noorpurs Islam Nagar mohalla, claimed he tried to leave the simian in the forest but it returned home every time.But fate had other plans. Two days ago, someone made a video clip of the monkey at the restaurant, following which Bajrang Dal activists filed a police complaint alleging animal cruelty. Soon, police arrived and directed him to release the monkey in a faraway forest.Nazim told TOI on Tuesday, I treated the simian like my friend all these days. There was an emotional attachment. When my friend refused to eat bread, I gave fruits daily. I had also dressed it like a child. I once left the simian about 12km from my house. But it found the way back to my house and started jumping around me excitedly. He added, Id take my little friend to my restaurant. But a few days ago, a man came to my restaurant and shot a video. Later, a police complaint was lodged against me in Noorpur police station. We had a heated argument over it as he misbehaved with my customers. With deep sadness, I left my friend in the forest... Cant explain how I felt. SHO of Noorpur, Sanjay Tomar, said, A man complained against Nazim and alleged he was misbehaving with a monkey. We inquired about it and talked to Nazim. In the meantime, he had left the monkey in Paijaniya forest. In a similar incident in March, Mohd Arif of Amethi developed a bond with a Sarus crane but was forced to hand it over to officials after people objected to a popular video showing the bird accompanying Arif.

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