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'Monkey man' lies low

Twenty-five calls about fighting the 'monkey man' were received from north-east and east Delhi, all of which were found to be "hoaxes", Joint Commissioner of Police Suresh Roy said.

The mysterious creature has struck at 65 places in Delhi since Saturday and terrorised residents in neighbouring Ghaziabad town of UP for over a month.

District police, along with personnel of the Delhi Armed Police, home guards and members of the civil defence patrolled affected areas throughout the night, while pickets at all entry roads to the city kept an eye on inbound vehicles, he said.

Police in south, west, and south-west districts received calls about attacks by the 'monkey man', which were found to be bogus, DCP South Kamraj said.

In west Delhi, DCP Kewal Singh said that three fake calls were received and in one case, a 16-year-old girl's finger was found bitten, apparently by a rat while she was asleep at Nangloi.

Meanwhile, the Delhi zoo authorities Wednesday ruled out that the "mystery figure" which has terrorised several parts of the capital and neighbouring areas could be an animal, as suspected by some police officials.

"It cannot be a monkey as suspected, because they do not have the height attributed to the attacker by eye witnesses," director of the National Zoological Gardens B S Bonal told PTI.

On whether it could be an ape, he said, "That species is not available in this part of the country. They are available only in north-east India."

Bonal, whose opinion on the "man-monkey" was sought by the city police, also dismissed the possibility of any other animal spreading terror.

"Animals do not attack without provocation and moreover, when confronted, they do not disappear. Rather, they resist and fight back," he said.

The zoo director said Delhi Police has not sought the help of veterinary doctors or other zoo experts so far.

Bonal said he suspected that some mischievous elements were behind the bizarre incidents.

Joint Commissioner of Police Suresh Roy had said dentists have stated that the bite marks on one of the victims belonged to "some animal" and not a "human being".

EARLIER REPORT
Mystery creature strikes at over 50 places in Delhi

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