The first victim of direct attack has been identified as Niranjan, a safai karamchari employed with the Railways. The second victim was a 19-year-old Banjara, Satyavir, living in a roadside shelter.

Satyavir, who lived at Basant Road under Sihani Gate police station, was killed on Thursday morning. He had gone into a brushwood area to ease himself at 7.30 am. Due to an overcast sky and spells of rain, it was still dark at that time.

His maternal uncle, Rajender, told The Pioneer: "When Satyavir did not return even after an hour, we started searching for him". When the family reached the spot, it was told that a "shadow" was seen grappling with a man. The family soon identified Satyavir's body.

"Three persons working in the area told us that Satyavir was killed by a "shadow". The "shadow" disappeared within seconds", said Satyavir's relatives. "We took Satyavir to the city branch of Narender Mohan Hospital where he was declared brought dead," they added.

Passers-by informed the police about the incident. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. According to Dr Deepak of Narender Mohan Hospital: "There were three punctures on the victim's skull, which were 2-to-3 inches deep and 6 inches long."

"When they brought him here at about 8.30 am (an hour after the attack) there was no bleeding. There were two fractures on his right hand (upper and lower joints)," the doctor said. "There were also linear scratches on the back and abdomen. On the right hip, there was a deep wound."

The other incident occurred at D-10 Railway Colony under Sahibabad police station at 1.30 am on Thursday. Niranjan, a sweeper with the Railways, was killed when he was sleeping in his courtyard. Niranjan, too, sustained two deep punctures in his head. The wounds were 2 inches deep and 5 inches long. "Some linear abrasions were also found on his chest," the doctors said.

The victim's son Mahender told The Pioneer: "At the time of the incident, my father was on night duty". Niranjan's wife Phoolmati was at their village near Toondla. "My wife Sumitra was all alone inside the house," said Mahender.

"Father was outside the house". According to Mahender, the "shadow" that had attacked his father was seen by Prithvi Pal, a resident of D-13 Railway quarters. "I was called from the factory. I rushed to the spot, but my father had died by then," he said.

Niranjan was declared brought dead at the Narender Mohan Hospital. The Sahibabad police have registered a case of murder.

A resident of the locality told The Pioneer: "The Sahibabad police obtained the complaint from Mahender only after pressurising him to write whatever they wanted". "The police," allege the residents, "want to divert the case from the 'mystery killings' category to a normal crime." "This is a desperate attempt by the police to cover up the situation," they alleged.

In addition to the two of murders, the monkey-man also injured three persons in different parts of the city. Mr Om Prakash (45) a resident of DLF colony, was attacked at 1.30 am on Thursday. He was sleeping on the rooftop at the time and sustained five linear abrasions around his neck. Mr Sunil Kumar (25) a resident of 360 Gali No 17, Gagan Vihar, in the Sahibabad area was "attacked" at 1.45 am on Thursday. He was sleeping inside his room. He sustained five linear abrasions.

In another case, Ms Sarla (30), a resident of Adarsh Nagar Biharipura under Vijay Nagar police station, was "attacked by the creature". There was a blackout in the area at the time. She sustained five linear abrasions on her breast and shoulders.

[Original headline: Police offer bounty for mystery monkey man]

Police in New Delhi said they were not sure whether the attacker was indeed a monkey, as some of its victims have claimed, or simply a human "mischief-monger".

"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.

He said a special police team would interview victims and doctors, including veterinarians, to determine the identity of the attacker.

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.

But their accounts of what it looked like varied wildly, with some even saying it had a metallic claw and others saying it was like a cat with tawny glowing eyes.

Pawar said the police control room had fielded a deluge of phone calls from residents in the eastern part of the city, but many were false alarms borne out of sheer panic.

Monkeys run wild in and around New Delhi, sometimes pouncing on unsuspecting pedestrians and entering houses.

"SPRINGHEELED JACK"

Indian dailies ran front-page articles on the "monkey man", with one suggesting that Pakistan's secret service was feeding the popular paranoia.

One drew parallels with a superhuman cloaked attacker known as Springheeled Jack who prowled the streets of Victorian London.

According to the the unexplainedsite.com, Springheeled Jack first appeared in 1837, attacking three women in the dark of the night. One of the victims apparently had her blouse torn off, allowing the creature to scratch at her stomach.

Although a vigilante group was formed he was never caught.

Sanal Edamaruku, who heads the Indian Rationalist Association, wrote off the "monkey man" mania as mass delusion.

"The recent panic ... could well be totally baseless and nothing but a hallucination of groups of people with a tendency to hysterical psychosis," he said in a statement.

"A casual cat, a stray monkey, a moving shadow of a tree branch or the scream of a scared person can trigger off group panic and subsequent hallucinations."

[Original headline: Yet another panic death]

The Commissioner of Police ordered the formation of a crack team to nab the elusive 'monkey man' on Thursday, as it created panic across the Capital, defying the security vigil. Over a dozen people were injured in attacks across the city. The police control room received more than 100 distress call, only 18 of which were found to have some substance. A baffled Delhi Police has requisitioned additional Central forces to deal with the menace. The police brass were contemplating action against bogus callers. Only 16 calls were found to be "genuine", the police said.

Ram Prakash (19) was sleeping on the roof of house no-F-401, Shakurpur. His friend Gyan Pratap was also sleeping near him. Four Persons; Jitender Prasad, Dewan, Dalip and Padip were sleeping on the roof of the adjoining house. Jitender felt that some one was pulling his sheet. He panicked and shouted for help. His colleagues rushed downwards. They sustained injuries in armas and legs. While Ram Prakash and Gyan Pratap jumped from the roof.

All the seven were rushed to Babu Jagjiwan Ram hospital. Ram Prakash was declared dead while Gyan Pratap is still in the hospital while others were discharged from the hospital.

After a day's lull, the 'mystery creature' struck in a big way in North-East district, where seven people were injured. Most attacks took place in Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Bhajanpura localities.

In West, Central and North-West district, 11 calls were received and one person was injured in Shakurpur, when he fell down while running in panic after allegedly sighting the 'monkey man', Joint Commissioner of Police, Northern Range Ajay Chadha said.

Out of 12 calls in South district, 10 were found to be bogus, while 7 calls were received in South-West district, where nothing concrete was found. DCP, South district, P Kamaraj said, Tabassum(11) and Israil(25), residents of Sangam Vihar sustained minor aberrations on Wednesday night. Tabassum was sleeping in her house when she sustained in jury.

The girl told the police that she did not see anything. While Israil and his family members were sleeping in the house. The gates and windows were closed, when he called the police about the attack. There were minor scratches on his cheek and forehead.

Both of them were sent for medical examination but the doctors did not found anything which suggested that the injuries were caused by the monster monkey, Mr Kamaraj said.

A mysterious caller made a dozen calls to M-1/87, Kariappa Marg, Sainik Farms. The caller reportedly threatened the inmates that the monkey was about to attack the house. Police received a distress call at 5 pm from the harried residents. Police teams were sent but they did not find anything. Since the calls were made to the house, police could trace the caller.

Amidst this drama, the police chief ordered the constitution of a team of officers from East and North East district to investigate the reported cases. The team will be headed by Rajiv Ranjan, ACP, Operations Cell East district.

The team has been assigned the task of investigating the incidents in detail. Team's brief includes the study of the modus operandai of the mischief monger(s) and analyse the injuries. The team has been also asked to seek the advice of the doctors and the veterinary doctors to investigate whether the injuries received by the victims have been inflicted by an animal or a human being.