The inmates of India's only monkey jail are a disgruntled bunch. "Arrested" from across northern Punjab state for various "crimes", they glare and snarl at visitors as they impatiently await parole from their well-guarded and heavily barred cell in a corner of the Motibagh Bir Zoological Park in Patiala, 220 miles north of New Delhi.
"All 11 monkeys are hard cases who have been apprehended by game wardens for thieving, terrorising and biting people," jailer Ram Tirath said. It's unlikely that any of them will ever be paroled, he added.
Freedom for the rhesus monkeys means being released into the large, adjoining enclosure populated by scores of "good" simians.
Alternatively, they can join the large population of monkeys that freely roam the zoological park once the hunting grounds of the legendary Maharaja of Patiala, renowned for his 365 wives and hundreds of offspring, each with their own English governess.
Exterminating "evil" monkeys is unheard of in India.
Hindu religious sentiment associates monkeys with Hanuman, the mythical monkey god who helped Lord Rama defeat Ravana, the evil king of modern day Sri Lanka, by setting the entire country alight with a flaming torch tied to his tail. India is dotted with tens of thousands of Hanuman temples, and every Tuesday is reserved for his worship.
According to Mr Tirath, two monkeys were paroled a year ago after serving an 18-month sentence for "good behaviour" and remain model animals.
Jail officials said they were inundated with complaints about ruffian monkeys across Punjab, but did not have adequate manpower to make the arrests. There are around 50,000 monkeys in Punjab, almost all wild with the largest number in Patiala district.
