SINCE March this year, the three districts of Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh have had 32 children below the age of 10 lifted by wolves. The one a band of traditional trackers—to kill the wolves, 90 per cent of the villagers continue to regard it as an exercise in futility. According to them, wolves are not responsible. Some put the blame on a human gang and some on a mysterious creature with amazing powers. The Outlook team found that the hunt for the criminal canine goes on each night, at times taking on some rather farcical dimensions but never really mitigating the tragedy faced by the people.