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"Man-monkey" triggers panic
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A MAN masquerading as a giant monkey is suspected of behind a string of crazed attacks which have triggered an exodus from an industrial suburb of New Delhi, Indian police said on Saturday.
The police revealed the bizarre case after another resident of an enclave of the township of Ghaziabad was seriously "mauled" on Saturday by what local residents said was a "man-monkey" on the prowl.
More than a dozen people have been hospitalised with fractures and severe injuries as a result of the attacks since April 28, many of them from falls while running away.
Local police said that despite an operation to arrest the disguised mischief-maker, the suspect was still ambushing residents at will, but neither robbed or sexually assaulted his victims.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) described Ghaziabad, a sprawling township of around 150,000 people some 35 kilometres north of Delhi, as in an absolute panic.
"There is certainly absolute panic in the city. I and senior police officers are taking the rounds of the city and we have deployed a lot of personnel," said Ghaziabad police chief Prashant Kumar.
"Somebody is playing a mischief by wearing a mask. There is absolutely no scientific basis to the stories," he said, referring to rumours the attacker was a modern-day Frankenstein.
One witness, Ganesh Jha, of the Maharana Vihar Residents' Association, claimed he came face to face with the "huge man-monkey" and saw him jump six metres in the air.
PTI and the Hindi-language Hindustan daily said Ghaziabad was deserted, with its once-lively shopping malls closing before sundown in fear.
Thousands have sent their children away from Ghaziabad and many office-goers were staying indoors, the Hindustan said.
Many local residents are saying the attacks are by a genetic scientist who experimented on himself with an unspecified and untested serum. Police have discounted the rumour as rubbish.
Speculation of a killer "stoneman" rocked Calcutta eight years ago following the murder of a dozen homeless people in the eastern city.
The mystery ended with the arrest of a serial killer who used large rocks to batter his sleeping victims.(SD-Agencies)
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