BAREILLY: The simian menace in the city took a turn for the absurd on Monday afternoon, when a monkey got inside a parked bus, switched on the engine and took off in the second gear. The driver finally managed to regain control but not before the vehicle had hit two other buses parked nearby.

The bizarrely comic sequence of events began when the conductor of an Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation ( UPSRTC ) bus from Pilibhit left the vehicle at the old roadways station to look for passengers. With half an hour to go for departure, the driver decided to take a quick nap.

While the driver reclined on the last row, a monkey suddenly appeared and climbed inside the driver’s cabin and managed to start the engine with the ignition key that was still in its slot. The driver, waking up, rushed towards the cabin and tried to chase the animal away. However, the panicked animal accidentally shifted the gear to the second level before jumping out of the bus.

Passengers seeing the pilotless vehicle headed their way ran helter-skelter, while the duty staff at the control room nearby were unable to find the reason behind the disturbance, according to UPSRTC regional manager SK Sharma. “The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses,” said Sharma.

“Monkeys have become a regular menace at bus stations and workshops, where they often fiddle with vehicles undergoing repair. They have also damaged CCTV cameras at stations. Three years back we had taken the help of municipal authorities to get rid of them but they have returned,” Sharma added.

The manager stated that UPSRTC is holding talks with municipal authorities to requisition the services of an agency to catch hold of the monkeys from around the bus station and transfer them elsewhere.

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