NEW DELHI, June 28: Well over six months after the last of the infamous `serial stalker' attacks in Vasant Kunj, police are still in the dark about the identity of the attacker.Having constructed a photofit likeness of the criminal, police are now going through the electoral rolls of the area to match the likeness of the suspect. ``I haven't yet had time to go through this case in detail, but as a first step I have asked the area police to go through electoral rolls of the area to try and find a person who resembles the picture that we have built up,'' says DCP (South West) P.K. Bhardwaj, who has just taken charge of the district.The `serial stalker' had caused panic in parts of Vasant Kunj late last year after a series of gruesome and violent attacks on women. Between March last year to January this year police have attributed a total of five attacks to the stalker said to have been around 25 years of age. After attacking the women with a sariya or an iron rod, he would escape with cash.Probably the most high profile of the attacks was the one on a TV producer - Shivani Jajodia in November last year. She was attacked violently as she entered her flat late in the night. She sustained serious head injuries and died a couple of days later. This was the only case where the victim eventually died.The Shivani Jajodia case is also the only one which is being investigated by the Crime Branch. The other four are being investigated by the local police.Any reasons that the case should be singled out this way? ``There is no reason,'' said DCP (Crime) Karnal Singh. ``This is one case which is high profile and which we had been called in to investigate. But rather than take up the other cases also it was felt that the district police should tackle them since they are in a better position to do so.''Ironically, the Jajodia case, which has come to symbolise the stalker menace, was initially thought to be the handiwork of someone known to her thus implying that this was not one of the stalker attacks. Police wanted to run lie detector tests on persons close to her, but when the case was handed over to the crime branch they clubbed it along with the other cases.``Much has been made of the odd behaviour of certain persons in the hours immediately following the murder, but that in itself is not sufficient to establish guilt,'' said Karnal Singh. ``In a crisis, you cannot tell how a person will react.''Lead after lead taken up by the police has petered out. For instance, the weapon used in the crimes was asariya of the type used by plumbers. ``It was possible that he could have been moving around in the guise of a plumber, so we checked up on the antecedents of the plumbers in the area, but drew a blank,'' said Karnal Singh.One of the odd aspects of the attacks is that they ceased very suddenly. The stalker struck last on January 8, attacking a woman named Madhu Khatri. Other attacks before that were on December 30, November 19, August 19 and March 7.Police are quick to take credit for the disappearance of the stalker. They feel that it was due the heavy police presence on the streets and the extra patrolling which scared off. But as the police themselves admit, no one can really say why the stalker attacks ceased so suddenly. ``Perhaps the attacker moved out of the area, but it is not possible to give a definite answer since the person has not been caught,'' said a police officer.If the person has moved elsewhere, it's possible that he could have started all over again. But the police say they have received no reports of similar crimes elsewhere in the city or in other parts of the country. Six months later the police are still looking for the criminal. And with the passage of time and with other crimes taking place, it is perhaps inevitable that investigations of these crimes would no longer be a priority. But Karnal Singh still staunchly maintains that there is a 50 per cent chance of catching the culprit.
