The monkeyman mystery deepens

By Prashant Pandey

NEW DELHI, MAY 14. The mysterious monkeyman made further inroads into the Capital inflicting injuries on 15 people -- including a three-year-old child -- within a span of five hours in the trans- Yamuna area on Sunday night.

The first attack occurred around 10-30 p.m. in the first floor house of Shadab, 17, in Lane No. 20 of New Shanti Mohalla in Krishna Nagar. ``I saw my brother being dragged by someone. When I tried to save him, I was bitten on my hands... There are scratch marks on my back too,'' said Mehtab, Shadab's brother, on Monday.

Half an hour later, Anil Srivastava, staying a few houses away, was rudely jolted out of sleep by shooting pain in his right wrist. ``By the time I could gather my wits, I had bite injuries on my leg and there was no trace of anybody around,'' said a puzzled Anil.

The attacks led to panic in the area and most residents came out of their homes. As a matter of precaution, Yusuf Khan, sleeping on the roof of his third floor house, asked his family to come down and sleep in the verandah. However, around 1-45 a.m., his sister Afsana woke up for water and heard her three-year-old son Naved crying. On closer inspection, she found Naved bleeding in the forehead. ``My son had bite marks on the forehead. I could also feel something heavy jump out of the verandah,'' said Afsana.

While the area was abuzz with stories about the monkeyman, three persons living a few lanes away sustained fractures when they hurriedly jumped down from the roof in the wee hours of Monday.

``I heard that the monkeyman had arrived in our area and asked all my friends sleeping on the roof to run for cover,'' said 22- year-old Izhar Ahmed, who sustained a fracture in his right leg when he jumped from the third floor to the second floor balcony. His friend Ashiq, 25, sprained his pelvis while jumping. Another injured man, Qayyum, left immediately for his native town in Uttar Pradesh.

Even as tales of horror began flying thick and fast, another case was reported from Anand Vihar around 11 a.m. on Monday. This was the first instance of the creature striking during day.

The Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi Range), Mr. Suresh Roy, said the monkeyman struck at 13 places in all and inflicted injuries on 15 people. ``Though most people were not sure what the creature looked like, the police were able to get a fair picture from the account provided by the man attacked in Anand Vihar on Monday.''

Investigations have revealed that claws were used in all the attacks so far.

For their part, the police have intensified night patrolling and appealed to people to sleep inside their homes.

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