Indian City Gripped by 'Monkey' Business

May 16, 2001 -- At first, residents of New Delhi wondered if they were simply going bananas in the scorching heat of the Indian summer.

Certainly, the reports of people being attacked by a hairy, ape-like creature approximately 4 feet tall seemed like an episode out of X Files or, closer to home, a chapter of the mythological epic Mahabharata.

But over the past three nights, media reports said dozens were injured in the mysterious attacks and two people jumped to their deaths in a panic. Delhi police recorded 39 calls of attacks by the so-called monkey man from panicked residents of eastern Delhi.

On Monday night, a pregnant woman slipped while fleeing a panicked scene where a "sighting" reportedly occurred. She later died in a city hospital.

The death, along with pictures in the local dailies of victims with scratch marks on their upper torsos, have shaken Delhites — many of whom initially dismissed the occurrences as "superstitious mumbo-jumbo."

The weather only added to concerns. Power outages in summer are common in Delhi, forcing residents of congested lower-income housing projects to sleep on rooftops to beat the heat.

And the darkness not only added to the mass panic, it also contributed to an astonishing variety of descriptions of the strange "creature."

A Man, a Monkey, or a Cat?

Descriptions by witnesses reported in local dailies often portrayed the mysterious creature as a hairy simian. But other descriptions included an agile, feline-like creature, an individual covered from head-to-toe in bandages and in one case, a mysterious being wearing a helmet.

Multiple sightings of the "creature" in over short time frames has led to speculation more than one creature involved in the attacks.

The rich variety of descriptions has predictably not gone down well with rank-and-file police officers, who blamed the panic on the superstitious beliefs of poor, largely uneducated people.

"There is no identification or description to depend on," a police officer told the Hindustan Times. "Not content with the fact that we had to keep running after false calls all through the night, we are now being asked to continue the hunt for the next couple of days."

A Serious Matter

But as the number of injuries increase, senior city police officers have started taking the matter seriously.

"Many people laugh and say how can such incidents occur but injuries have to be taken seriously," Suresh Roy, the joint commissioner of police, told ABCNEWS.com. "We're trying to help by posting police on rooftops and keeping areas well lit at night. We have also posted border checks at entry points to the city and have been holding meetings with the public to keep the panic under control."

The panic only seems to be spreading.

Residents of the area talk of sleepless nights spent waiting for cries of "bandar aaya hai" ("the monkey is here").

But while some newspapers, such as The Times of India have dismissed the "half-monkey-half-human apparition," many experts advise caution before drawing conclusions.

"There's certainly mass hysteria here," said Ashok Nagpal, associate professor at the University of Delhi's Department of Psychology, "But there's definitely something more to it. It's too early to reach a conclusion though and until I probe further into the matter I can't see where to pitch my views."

'Shoot at Sight' Orders

Man or superman, ape or super-ape, the Delhi police are taking no chances. Police officers have "shoot at sight" orders, said Roy.

Two "identikit" portraits based on victims' description have also been released. One showed a swarthy, hirsute "man" with a flat nose, thick lips and a piercing stare. The other, depicted a "man" with a moustache and dark glasses.

The police are also working with authorities at the Delhi Zoo, but those investigations have not shed much light on the mysterious monkey man. "Reports say the creature is around four-feet tall and that does not correspond with any known creature," said Roy. "Secondly, monkeys do not normally indulge in such extraordinary acts. This is highly unusual."

But monkeys have been known to run wild in New Delhi and on the outskirts of the city. Residents often complain of the creatures pouncing on unsuspecting pedestrians and entering houses and government offices as overpopulation has forced many monkeys into urban areas.