There's been a rash of sightings of a creature known as the Bhootbilli, or "ghost cat" in a neighborhood near Pune, India. This large feline cryptid has consumed 45 pigeons (and one goat) belonging to one unlucky resident.
The sightings of the creature have been in the Sanjay Park neighborhood ~100 miles outside of Mumbai. From MiD DAY:
"The bhootbilli has been coming everyday the past 10 days around 7 pm. We had set up a lot of traps, but all turned into a flop show because whenever we would try to catch it, it would jump on the tree and sneak out somewhere," said Feroz Dilawar Khan, a driver and resident of the area. "It's fat and broad with a long tail, black in colour, has a face like a dog and back like a mongoose."
The bhootbilli, as it is called by the residents, has eaten around 45 pigeons and one goat within a span of 10 days which all belonged to Feroz.
Fed-up of the creature, Feroz called the police, fire brigade and forest officials on November 3 around 10 pm, but the effort went in vain. "We arrived at the spot around 10 pm, but the animal had already escaped and hid somewhere in the trees," said one of the fire officials from Yerawada, who was at the spot.
The residents have again set a trap and are expecting to catch the mischief-maker this time. Hrishikesh Sutar, chairman of the Sanjay Park Society, said: "The residents came complaining to me around four days ago and we haven't yet identified the creature. It's smaller than a lion but bigger than a hyena and I doubt if it's a wild cat."
Urban cryptids are more unusual than their rural brethren, so commentators are drawing parallels to the 2001 reports of the Delhi Monkey Man (left), whose sightings caused mass hysteria, 3 deaths (panicked people fell off buildings), and the beating of a four-foot-tall mystic named Jamir, who was throttled by an angry mob.
[Spotted on Cryptomundo; bottom photo via Wikimedia Commons.]