Ranchi, June 18: The casualties: outdoor games, family get-togethers, errand hands and, above all, security. The perpetrators: a rampaging simian family of five patronised by a suspended IAS officer.

Kokar has been locked indoors for the past 24 hours and more while Sajal Chakrabarty is blasé about his foster children and forest officials plead ignorance about the former transport secretary blatantly violating wildlife laws to groom primates right under their nose.

Monkeys fall under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) which means they cannot be raised at home and must be either kept in protected areas like zoos or in their natural habitat.

But Chakrabarty has been on an adoption spree since 2003. Two years ago, he even erected a 20ft by 20ft enclosure in the backyard of his posh Kokar residence. Harried local residents claim two tortoises were also part of this home zoo till some time ago, but were now dead.

On Thursday, the five rogue monkeys — two adults and three children — escaped their enclosure as early as 5am. They raided at least 10 houses in the area, damaging cellphones, breaking flowerpots, tearing curtains and injuring at least four persons, including The Telegraph photographer Prashant Mitra.

“We are paying the price for his love of animals. So bad is the situation that our relatives have stopped visiting us, our maid refuses to come to work and the watchman left his job yesterday,” complained K.P. Sahay, a neighbour.

Ram Pravesh Singh Yadav, whose house is right behind Chakrabarty’s, said: “We are almost imprisoned here for over two years. Our children can’t go out to play and we fret with anxiety every time a family member leaves home for work. Even today, one of the monkeys entered our house when I opened a window to let in some fresh air. It attacked me and scratched my hands.”

Kasturi Choudhary, who lives in a multi-storied building adjacent to the IAS officer’s premises, said she had bought dozens of video games for her six-year-old son to keep him inside the house all the time. “With the monkeys on the loose, we have no other way to protect him,” she said.

Officials in the forest department said only the chief wildlife warden was empowered to issue licences to individuals for keeping Schedule I animals at home. But then, there is a clause that one cannot groom these wild animals in residential areas.

The forest department can book anyone violating this law under Section 49 and take the animals in its possession. Though the nature of penalty depends on the term of illegal possession and category of animal, a violator can be jailed for a minimum of six months and slapped a heavy fine.

When confronted, territorial conservator of forests, Ranchi, R.N. Prasad said he was not aware of Chakrabarty’s simian pets. “The DFO has gone to Delhi. Once he comes back, we will take up the matter,” he said.