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       BANGKOK: Police in Thailand barricaded themselves into their own station over the weekend, after a menacing mob of 200 escaped monkeys ran riot on a town.

       The human inhabitants of Lopburi have long suffered from a growing and aggressive monkey population and authorities have built special enclosures to contain groups of the unruly residents.

       But around 200 of the primates broke out and rampaged through town on Saturday, with one posse descending on a police station.

       “We’ve had to make sure doors and windows are closed to prevent them from entering the building for food,” police captain Somchai Seedee said on Monday.

       He was concerned the marauders could destroy property, including police documents. Traffic cops and officials on guard duty were called in to fend off the visitors, the Lopburi police said on Facebook.

       Around a dozen of the intruders were still perched proudly on the roof of the police station on Monday, pictures from television networks showed.

       Down in the streets, hapless police and local authorities were working to round up rogue individuals, luring them away from residential areas with food.

       While Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation, it has long assimilated Hindu traditions and lore from its pre-Buddhist era.

       Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024