Locals in a sleepy northern Indian town were left wide-eyed when a monkey perched atop a sacred fig tree began flinging Rs 500 notes into the air, turning an ordinary afternoon into a mad scramble for money.

The bizarre incident took place on Monday outside the local administrative office in Soraon, a subdivision of Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh.

Witnesses said the simian snatched a bag of cash from a parked motorbike belonging to a man who had come to register land papers. The bag, stuffed with 500-rupee bills, was kept in the bike's storage compartment.

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“The man was standing nearby when the monkey swooped in, opened the storage box and escaped with the bag,” said a bystander quoted in local reports.“When people shouted and threw stones to scare it off, the monkey simply climbed the peepal tree and started showering money from above.”

Videos of the“cash rain” have gone viral on social media, showing onlookers gleefully gathering notes as they drifted down from the branches.

In an unexpected twist, many residents who had collected the money later returned it to the owner, saving him from what could have been a hefty loss. The man, who declined to be identified, reportedly breathed a sigh of relief after recovering most of the amount.

While monkey mischief is common in India, from temple raids to rooftop thefts, this one quite literally made it rain

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