Kharagpur, May 7: Jawans of the CRPF’s Naga battalion today allegedly attacked a langur with a chopper at a Kharagpur village, sparking protests by local people.

The officer in charge of Kharagpur (local) police station, Sailen Biswas, said the jawans severely injured the langur’s left arm with a chopper.

The residents of Basantapur gheraoed a forest officer, N. Manna, when he went to the spot to enquire about the incident. “We pacified the mob and rescued the forest officer,” Biswas said.

He said that after the attack around 12pm, the langur climbed onto a tree. It was sitting there till late tonight. The forest department has been requested to rescue the animal and arrange for its treatment.

Calls to K. Vijay Kumar, the CRPF director-general, and P.V. Rao, the force’s inspector-general, went unanswered.