Pilibhit (UP), Feb 22 (IANS): A week after a troop of monkeys damaged 34 newly-installed CCTV cameras around a makeshift election strong room at the APMC complex in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit, officials have deployed a langur to protect the equipment.

R.S. Gautam, ADM (finance and revenue), Pilibhit, said: "The forest department has deployed three teams of personnel, each comprising nine members, to guard the CCTVs."

Divisional forest officer of social forestry division, Sanjeev Kumar, said a team from the department had caught a langur from Jangrauli village in response to the district administration's "urgent request".

"We took verbal permission from the field director of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) before trapping the langur," he added.

Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed with Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) Sanjay Singh by a Lucknow-based wildlife activist, Kaushalendra Singh, seeking legal action against the local authorities and forest officials for using the langur, enlisted in part II of Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Reacting to the complaint, field director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Sanjay Kumar Pathak, said that prior permission of the CWLW was mandatory for trapping a langur.

The CLW said that he had issued necessary directions to PTR's field director.

"The field director will probe the matter and file a report for appropriate legal steps in this matter."