The three boys who were attacked show their injury marks in Patna City on Sunday. Picture by Sachin

An unidentified man with long nails has attacked three minors in the Patna City area in the past week. Fearing the “nail man”, some parents have stopped sending their wards to school.

The latest victim is a Class V student of a government middle school in Gaighat locality of eastern Patna on Saturday. Sachin (name changed) had gone to buy a pencil from a nearby stationery shop when an unidentified man appeared before him suddenly, slapped him on his face and scratched him badly with his nails. The attacker vanished before the boy could react.

The boy narrated the incident to his teacher, Prabhat Kumar, and showed him his injury marks whereupon the teacher lodged a formal complaint with the Alamganj police station. A day earlier, a Class VII student of the same school Ganesh (name changed) was attacked similarly.

The victims, who had blood oozing out from their hands and other body parts, were admitted to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) for treatment. Doctors told their parents the boys were out of danger and there was nothing to worry about.

The incidents took place at Gaighat South Lane and near Government Polytechnic respectively. A third similar incident was reported from Dadarmandi locality when the “nail man” attacked Roshan Kumar (name changed), a Class V student of Gulzar Bagh primary school. The school authorities had reported the incident to the police on October 8.

Alamganj police station house officer (SHO) Akil Ahmed admitted to having received complaints about the attacks on schoolchildren by an unidentified man having long nails. “We are keeping a close watch. The attacker will be caught soon,” he said.

The police have gathered detailed information about the suspect from the attacked boys. “We are planning to prepare sketches of the suspect and paste them at public places so that he could be arrested at the earliest,” the SHO said.

But he said there was no need to panic. “At times such instances surface and then fade out. This, too, might be a case of mischief. We are looking into all aspects,” he told The Telegraph on Sunday.

But the attack on school-going children has sent shock waves among parents. “I have stopped sending my ward to school ever since the ‘nail man’ surfaced. He is learnt to have wounded several children. I don’t want to put my ward in danger,” said Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Alamganj Naka (police outpost).

About two years ago, a “blade man” was on the prowl in Patna City area. He used to carry out his attacks in a similar fashion. His victims would suddenly see blood oozing out of their hands and notice it had been slashed.

“Complaints were lodged and CCTV cameras installed in some areas to ascertain the identity of the ‘blade man’,” an inspector of police deputed in Patna City recalled.

Later, a youth identified as Vidyasagar from Bhojpur was arrested and forwarded to jail. During interrogation he confessed to the crime and said he had carried out the attacks out of frustration. Young girls were his soft targets. Vidyasagar was nabbed with the help of his sketch, released by then City SP Kim. He is out on bail now, pending trial.

Patna senior superintendent of police Jitendra Rana was not available for comment.