'Monkey Man' aping pranksters, say police

A Delhi resident points to injuries he says were inflicted by the 'monkey man'

By staff and wire reports

NEW DELHI, India -- New Delhi police say injuries reported by dozens of people in the Indian capital were not caused by a mysterious "monkey man" creature -- or any other animal.

But officials remain baffled by the case of the mysterious attacks, allegedly perpetrated by an "ape-like creature", which have transfixed New Delhi for the past week.

Police say they have narrowed down the suspects in the attacks after a citywide search came up with nothing more than a strong suspicion the "monkey man" was not those of a mysterious animal but human pranksters.

VIDEO CNN's Suhasini Haidar reports on the continuing scare (May 17) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

In the past week police have received 324 complaints of people sighting or being bitten and clawed by the ape-like creature, 260 of which were found to be hoaxes, Manoj Lall, Delhi's Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), told Reuters.

"Medical reports are categorical that none of the injuries of the 64 people hurt in the incidents were caused by nail or tooth marks," Lall said.

Delhi police have offered a reward of 50,000 rupees ($1,063) for information leading to the capture of the "monkey man".

Many still believe

But thousands of people in Delhi still believe a monkey-man is on the loose, climbing up on rooftops and attacking men, women and children in their homes.

Artists impressions of the now infamous 'monkey man' have appeared in the Indian press

Residents have lit Hindu prayer fires, trying something new to rid them of the supposed menace.

It's no laughing matter either -- three people have been killed and more than 60 have been injured in the panic caused by fear of the monkey man.

Tired and scared, the people patrols often turn violent. An angry crowd smashed one van when they suspected it was the monkey man's getaway car.

Police say they now think the initial rumors may have spurred a gang of pranksters into dressing up and scaring people.

"Somebody is doing all this in a planned way to create panic among the people. People are now panicked. There seems to be some conspiracy," one officer said.

Reuters contributed to this report.