Daryaganj monkey on a power trip

The police in Daryaganj are investigating an electricity meter theft. Nothing unusual in this: only the suspect has a tail.

The police in Daryaganj are investigating an electricity meter theft. Nothing unusual in this: only the suspect has a tail.

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Zafar Ahmed Khan, a musician from All India Radio filed a police complaint blaming “a monkey” for the disappearance of his electricity meter. “When our meter got stolen, everybody said it must have been the monkeys as they routinely open wire boxes in the area,” he said.

Last month, Ahmed found that his electricity meter, that unobtrusive box, which ticks away quietly at a dark corner in every house, had vanished. “No man would be stupid enough to steal something like that,” he had told his neighbours.

His neighbours reckoned it wasn’t a human being. “I still went to the police station for a formal complaint,” he said.

But instead of registering a case, a friendly cop also gave him similar advice. “He looked sure that a monkey had taken off with my meter. So I wrote that in my complaint,” he said.

The police, however, denied having anything to do with the monkey business. “It is not our job to chase monkeys. But we’ll probe it,” said a senior officer. On Monday, BSES installed a new meter at Ahmed’s residence. The police, however, haven’t made any headway.