A forest officer chases a langur down the roof a house in a Burdwan village on Wednesday.

The langur, which had wrought havoc in Baktarnagar, 220km from Calcutta, since Sunday, made the forest department sweat for three days before being trapped.

In the three days, the langur bit 27 people.

“I was returning from work around 7pm yesterday when the langur suddenly jumped on me and bit me in my left arm,” said Sukumar, a vegetable vendor.

Apurba Banerjee, 32, a trader who had undergone a heart surgery six months ago, fainted after the langur sank its teeth into his right arm. He was rushed to hospital, where he was given three stitches.

Forest officers had left a cage outside a Hanuman temple with bananas and a few pounds of bread inside on Sunday. But the langur refused to bite the bait.

A fresh forest team arrived on Wednesday. After a long chase, the langur finally could not keep away from its favourite fruit and stepped into the cage. Picture by Gour Sharma