Monkey theft kingpin held in Rajasthan

“Rajesh,a resident of Haryana,is the kingpin of the racket,which has nationwide presence. The racket has been involved in many thefts in private and government zoos,” said Jawed Shamim,Joint Commissioner of the Kolkata police.

Rajesh,who has several cases against him,has been at large for nearly a decade and has cases against him in Pune and Lonavala.

According to the police,arrested for opium smuggling nine years ago,he had managed to give the police a slip on his way to the court and went absconding since then.

According to reports,Rajesh Singh and Rajesh Saikia,another arrested accused in the monkey theft case,have been involved in an earlier attempt of theft at Alipore Zoo in March.

Eight marmosets were finally stolen from the zoo on August 8,following which Saikia and Sujas Das alias Bubai were arrested by the Kolkata Police.

“We are interrogating Saikia and Bubai and gathered crucial information about the theft. We expect after interrogating Rajesh Singh,we will have more information. Saikia said he got all details about monkeys from Rajesh Singh and then they planned the theft. Bubai also helped them in chalking out the plan,” said a DD officer.