NEW DELHI, India -- The Delhi police have announced the
formation of a crack team dedicated to nabbing the elusive
'Monkey Man' and offered a reward forhis -- or its --
capture. The elusive "monkey man" has spread panic among
New Delhi residents following confirmation that dozens of
people have animal-bite injuries. "We are going to zero down
on this very early and put an end to this menace," spokesman
Ravi Pawar said, adding that 50,000 rupees ($1,063) would
be awarded to anyone giving information which leads to his
capture. Two terrified residents of the city's suburbs,
including a pregnant woman, fell to their death earlier this
week on hearing cries in the neighbourhood warning that the
attacker was nearby. Collective hysteria then set in after
many people said they had been scratched or bitten by the
creature while they were sleeping on terraces, particularly
during power cuts. Hundreds of police officers have been
deployed to patrol the city through the night after the
sightings were reported in the east and northeast of the
capital. On Wednesday night, however, police started to
receive calls from scared residents in other parts of the
city. Police said the calls usually turned out to be more a
result of emotional and panic imaginations rather than an
actual encounter. Noises, suspicious shadows and even hearsay
had caused residents to call the police. "No one saw the
actual monkey-man. But there was no paucity of wild
stories," said a senior police officer, as quoted by the
Times of India newspaper.

Ruse to secure power supplyStories circulating suggested the
creature preyed on people sleeping on the roofs -- a habit
among poor Delhi residents to cope with hot summer nights.
However, in the first reported case of an indoor attack, an
18-year-old boy claimed he was attacked and scratched by a
creature with "brown fur, resembling a monkey" in his
residence on Wednesday afternoon. Some police officers
started to make a connection between the sighting calls
and New Delhi's frequent power failures. They suspected that
some residents called the police every time there was a
power failure because they believed police would be forced to restore power
before starting a search. There were different versions of
how the "monkey-man" looked. Two portrait sketches, based on
the creature's victims, suggested it was human. One showed a
swarthy broad-faced bearded man with a flat nose, thick lips
and a piercing stare. The other, which could hardly have been more
different, portrayed a narrow-faced man with a receding
hairline, a scrappy moustache and dark glasses. However, some
residents said the creature was "as small as a cat" and had
metallic hands, while a few others claimed it was a monkey
who could turn into a cat.

Monkeys run wild in New Delhi and on the outskirts of the
city. Sometimes they pounce on unsuspecting pedestrians or
enter houses. Police suspected the terrorizing creature was
an animal, but the city's zoo director, P.S. Bonal ruled out
the possibility. Another police officer told the Times of
India: "The only thing that we have been able to fathom is
that a prankster, with a sick sense of humor, is behind the
attacks. "However, nine out of ten sighting are bogus.
Apparently, everybody wants his moment of glory. These bogus
sighting are making it impossible for us to get to the bottom of the matter."
http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/05/17/india.monkeyman/index.h
- bill 5-17-2001 4:43 pm [add a comment]