Feb. 19: In yet another stoneman-type attack in the city, the eleventh so far, an unidentified homeless vagrant was found dead in Paltan Bazar today. He was lying in a pool of blood with his face up.

A police official said the victim had severe injuries on the back of his head — apparently inflicted by a blunt and heavy object. The attack is suspected to have taken place between 3 and 5 this morning.

The official said the body of the bearded victim, in his forties, was first spotted early in the morning by a staff of Hotel Eden, which is adjacent to the murder spot. He later informed the police.

The police immediately cordoned off the spot. Forensic experts and a CID team arrived later and examined almost every object at the site.

The police collected three stones from the spot to examine whether any of these was used to attack the victim.

“A watchman of Hotel Eden told us that there was nobody sleeping at the spot till 2am and he was not aware of what happened after that. There is also a possibility that the victim may have been murdered somewhere else and the body dumped at that spot,” the official said.

With today’s incident, seven pavement dwellers have been killed and five critically injured in the past two months by the mysterious killer/s.

Despite the attacks continuing at frequent intervals, the police have not even succeeded in identifying the serial killer/s.

After visiting the murder spot this morning, additional superintendent of police (city) Debajit Deori said despite the police stepping up vigil, the culprit/s had managed to strike once again.

“It was unfortunate that the incident happened this morning. We have taken the entire case very seriously and are trying our best to solve it as soon as possible,” he added.

Deori heads the police team, which is investigating the series of attacks.

Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has taken suo moto cognisance of the attacks and has asked Assam director-general of police G.M. Srivastava to furnish a report on the progress in the investigations carried out by the police within 30 days.

AHRC member Jyoti Prasad Chaliha today confirmed that the commission had registered a case. He described the incidents as a slur on civilised society and said the police should speed up investigation.

In another incident, an unidentified beggar was found dead on a pavement near Sukreswar temple in Panbazar this morning.

Ruling out foul play, the police said the elderly man, likely to be in his seventies, had died of old-age ailments.