A fierce fight between two groups of monkeys in the heart of the Taj City, Agra, claimed two human lives on Monday.

According to the cops at Ghatia Azam Khan police outpost, an old house in the Satsang Gali was under repair. The owner and a labourer were standing close to a wall that had to be demolished. Just then armies of monkeys fighting for territorial rights ransacked and jumped all over the area, bringing the damaged wall down on Monday evening. 

The two men were crushed under the rubble and could not be saved due to severe head injuries.

The deceased, Laxman Tulisiani, a gold valuer, and Veera, a beldaar, were on the second floor of the dilapidated house when the wall of the third floor fell over them as more than 35 monkeys were locked in a fierce fight.

The injured were rushed to the GG Nursing Home but could not be saved.

Meanwhile, facing menace, the locals have demanded rounding up of the monkeys from the city. They have appealed to the district administration to take effective steps to curb the simian nuisance in the city. 

Mayor of the Agra, Navin Jain, has been asked to shift the monkeys from the city to the forest areas, as there have been a series of fatal incidents. 

The municipal corporation had launched a drive a few years ago, but the animal rights groups stalled the exercise. 

The locals demand drastic action against rampaging monkeys who have made life difficult for the people living in old city areas.

It may be mentioned that Agra these days is living in the scare of bovine, canine and simian menace. Even tourists have become victims. Last year there was a hue and cry when a monkey snatched a new-born from the lap of a mother and killed the infant in Runukta village, 20 km away. 

The district authorities had then made a number of promises but nothing much happened.