Darjeeling, Aug. 2: The monkeys are back in business.

This time, they seem to have chosen an audience that would be forced to wait till their well-orchestrated antics end.

After Loreto College girls, now the patients at Darjeeling Eden Hospital have fallen victim to the wrath of the primates. But while the girls could run away from the monkey show, the patients are forced to bear their antics, till the end.

Four to five monkeys have found themselves a cosy home at the hospital roof ? a convenient shelter from the rains ? and the authorities are finding it difficult to drive them out of the place.

When some of the hospital staff members had climbed up to the roof to chase the monkeys away, one of the animals crashed through the false ceiling, landing straight on a patient.

While another one also crashed though the ceiling, but this time on the ward floor, others have been seen throwing wooden planks around. Some others seem to have taken great pleasure in breaking water-flasks of patients.

However, much to the chagrin of the monkeys, the hospital authorities have decided to shift the male ward from the top floor of the hospital, thereby, cutting short the primate show.

?We had no other option but to shift the beds from the floor. We feared that at any moment, the monkeys might throw wooden planks at the patients,? said A Banerjee, the hospital superintendent.

Though the authorities want to shift all the 80 beds of the male ward, they have been able to shift only around 20 beds, owing to scarcity of space.

?Work to change the false ceiling will soon be undertaken. The DGHC is already looking into it. We will plug all the places from where the monkeys sneak into the building and will also make suitable arrangement to ensure that they cannot enter the hospital through any point,? Banerjee said.

Residents of the area, however, said easy availability of food is one of the major reasons for the monkeys invading the hospital premises.

?Thank god, it is only a small group of monkeys, which has discovered that food is easily available here. If the entire army is to descend on them, life would be difficult for all,? said a local shopkeeper.