Monkey turns jewel thief, snatches devotee’s purse with ₹20 lakh jewellery in Vrindavan

A monkey snatched a devotee’s purse containing jewellery worth over ₹20 lakh in the Vrindavan area of Mathura. The incident reportedly took place near the famous Thakur Banke Bihari Temple.

According to India Today, Abhishek Agarwal, a resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, had visited Vrindavan with his family. He was on his way back from the temple when a monkey snatched the purse from his wife.

Police were informed after the locals failed to rescue the purse from the monkey. Police personnel reached the spot. After several hours, the purse was recovered from a bush and handed over to the family, the report added.

Sandeep Kumar, Circle Officer, Sadar, said that swift action by police led to the recovery of the snatched purse and the valuables were recovered.

“A devotee named Abhisheak Agarwal came to Vrindavan with his family from Aligarh. His wife’s purse contained jewellery amounting to nearly ₹20 lakh. While returning from the Thakur Banke Bihari Temple, a monkey snatched away the bag from him,” he was quoted by India Today as saying.

“A police team recovered the purse from a bush and it was returned to the family,” he said. The jewellery inside the purse was found to be intact, and it was returned to the family.

There have been several stories of mischievous monkeys in Vrindavan. In March this year, a report emerged claiming that a monkey there swapped a Samsung S25 Ultra for a mango drink. The cheeky barter trade had left the internet in splits.

As per the report, the mischievous monkey had swapped an expensive Samsung S25 Ultra for a small pack of a mango drink, creating a hilarious scene that went gone viral on social media.

A video of the incident showed how the monkey perched on a balcony, firmly gripped the pricey smartphone while three men standing below desperately tried to negotiate its return.

The men try to entice the monkey with multiple Frooti packs, tossing them upwards in hopes of retrieving the phone.

However, the monkey seems unimpressed, refusing to give in too easily.

Just when it looks like the negotiations might fail, one of the drink packs lands in the right spot. The clever monkey then quickly snatches it up, hurls the Samsung S25 Ultra back down, and secures its well-earned refreshment.