As lawmakers were going about their business on Thursday, a monkey business was unfolding in the Parliament House library adjoining the Central Hall. And this because a simian had found its way into the reading room meant for MPs and journalists. The monkey roamed around the reading room for half an hour.

The adult monkey jumped on the tables and climbed up electrical wires in the gallery area and again climbed down. After failing to discover an exit from the library for about 30 minutes, it made its way out of the main door and through the green-carpeted corridor, and finally left by the main gate of the building on the side meant for VIPs.

The security staff posted at the Central Hall door quickly shut the gates and prevented the monkey from invading the place where MPs, ministers and journalists, along with the catering staff are always present in good numbers.

The hapless library staff kept calling Parliament security but to no avail. There was no help forthcoming as there was no way to catch the simian in Parliament in the absence of a langoor, which had earlier been deployed to deal with the recurring monkey menace.

Not so long back, langoors were employed by for chasing away monkeys in parts of Lutyens' Delhi. But the decision to do away with langoors had been taken some time ago with the Parliament House bidding them goodbye in June end when their employment was terminated.

The monkey was spotted in the seat of India's democracy, just months after another unsuspecting animal strayed into the complex.

In May a Nilgai had entered the complex and made the security staff run around him for hours before it was finally caught.