Patna senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj addresses the peace meeting (above) college student Aakanksha Kumari, who was allegedly attacked by the “Blade Man”, on Friday. Pictures by Sachin

Is he, isn’t he? The “Blade Man”, that is.

If he isn’t, the 24-year-old rag-picker detained on Thursday and lodged in a police lock-up has to wait till the mob frenzy ebbs. If he is, it adds to the mystery since a teenaged girl was attacked in similar fashion in broad daylight today at Patna City.

No one can say for sure if the rag-picker, whose identity The Telegraph is withholding for security reasons, is indeed the slasher of six. But police are taking no chances given the cries for blood from a section of the people.

The police reason that the man is safer inside the lock-up than outside, where mobs are waiting to pounce on him. The ragpicker was beaten badly by hundreds of angry people on Thursday before he was rescued by the police.

But if he is the culprit, then there is another criminal on the prowl outside.

Aakanksha Kumari, an 18-year-old student of Guru Govind Singh College, was walking down the Dundi Bazaar area around 1pm when she says she was attacked.

“As per her statement, as she was walking she sensed two people walking past her, one of who had his face covered. Seconds later, the girl realised her arm was bleeding and that she had been slashed. Later, after first aid, she came to the (Chowk) police station and her statement was taken. This complicates the case. There could be more than one person involved in these slash-attacks. It could be a gang as well,” a police officer told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity.

The “Blade Man” has sparked panic across Patna City ever since the attacks started on Tuesday. At least five children and a girl have so far been targeted.

The rag-picker detained on Thursday was brought to a police station — whose name The Telegraph is not disclosing — on Thursday morning after he was caught and severely thrashed by local people. “The locals of Patna City are living in fear and terror and they just want to get their hands on the attacker. The attack on a police station yesterday, where police had to carry out a lathi-charge, was because the mob felt the rag-picker was indeed the “Blade Man” and wanted to lynch him. The six victims who had been attacked on Tuesday and Wednesday were called for identification but the police cannot be certain that he is the attacker. But releasing him now will only spell trouble for him as the crowd has seen his pictures in some of the newspapers and there is always a chance that he might be attacked,” an officer said.

Sources said the police should have acted fast. “How can it take an entire day for six victims to come and identify the man? In the first place, the police should not have allowed his pictures to be clicked. Now the cops have no option but to keep him in the police station as there is a chance that he might be attacked. And if the cops believe he is innocent, why has he been kept inside the lock-up?” a police source told The Telegraph.

Officials at the police station said he had been detained for security reasons. “The people are angry and we cannot risk freeing him. The police had a talk with his family and convinced them that this was the best option. It will be difficult for the police to save him if he gets attacked. As of now, he has been detained but just for providing him security. He has not been arrested,” an officer said.

Patna senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj, who held a peace meeting with the residents during the day, was tight-lipped. “The police aren’t sure that the man in detention is indeed the attacker. The police are questioning him,” he said.