M A I N   N E W S

50,000 for tip-off on monkey-man
Syed Ali Ahmed

New Delhi, May 17
The mysterious monkey-man crossed the trans-Yamuna area and struck in a big way last night in the Capital, specially in South and West Delhi, leading to the death of a person in the Shakurpur area of North-West district of the Delhi police.

He attacked Jitender Yadav, Ram Prakash and Gaya Prasad in Shakurpur while they were asleep on their rooftops. They received injury marks on different parts of their bodies. When the monkey-man attacked Ram Prakash and Gaya Prasad, they jumped down from the roof of their three-storey building. Gaya Prasad received injuries while Ram Prakash died on the spot. The injured is admitted to a hospital.

It was the first time that the monkey-man attacked North-West Delhi. It first created panic in Ghaziabad and Noida in UP and then it entered East and North-East Delhi where it has injured 55 persons so far. Two victims, who were injured, died in Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in North-East district today.

The police received a total of 100 calls from different areas of the Capital. Of them, only 18 were confirmed to be true. A total of 30 calls were received in North-East district, 26 in East, 12 in South, 6 in West and others in North-West districts of the Capital.

As the attacks of mysterious monkey rose, the police today formed a special team headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police. The team will inspect the case with different angles giving special attention to “mischief mongers” and type of injuries sustained by the victims.

The team will take assistance of doctors and vets to investigate whether injuries sustained by the victims were inflicted by an animal or a human being.

The police has also sought assistance of central forces to deal with the menace, police sources said. The police has also announced reward of Rs 50,000 for giving information about hideout of “mischief mongers”.

The police doubts the involvement of monkey-man in creating panic in the Capital. It could be the handiwork of anti-social elements, a police official said. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, appealed to the residents not to spread panic and rumours about the monkey’s attack.

Asked whether the attacks are being carried out by a lone attacker, the JCP, Mr Suresh Roy, said it appeared to be the work of more than one creature.

15 militants killed in J&K
Tribune News Service and UNI

Jammu, May 17
At least 11 militants were killed today across Jammu. Some of them were said to be involved in the massacre of seven persons at Atholi village in Kishtwar on May 10.

According to the police, troops spotted a group of militants crossing over to south Kashmir from Kishtwar mountain passes near Symthan. They asked them to halt but the militants opened fire. The troops retaliated, killing five of them on the spot.

Since May 10 the security forces have launched massive search operations for nabbing or eliminating those who were involved in the massacre.

In another incident, in the Sangla forest belt near Surankot in Poonch today, the militants opened fire on an Army patrol. The fire was returned and in an hour-long encounter, five militants were killed.

At Chingas village in Rajouri, the security forces killed one militant. Large quantities of arms and explosives were seized by the troops from the slain militants at three places.

A report from Srinagar said a block president of the ruling National Conference (NC) and four militants were among seven persons killed in various incidents since last night while the police foiled a plan to set off a blast near a telephone exchange in the valley today.

NC block president, Mohammad Sultan Lone was killed by the militants at Check-Akhal in the Kangan area on the outskirts of Srinagar today, sources said.

Mr Lone was kidnapped by the militants from his Akhal house last evening and later killed.