Police in an Indian city say children have stopped going to school after a local newspaper was duped into publishing a photograph of a 'ghost'. Officers say the picture, in the Thanthi newspaper in the southern city of Tiruchi, was a computer-generated fake.The photograph shows a youngster with a legless 'ghost' with long loose hair and empty eye-sockets standing behind him.The newspaper story claimed the boy was among a group of students from Bangalore who were visiting a picnic spot in the hills and says he went into coma after seeing the image.The story was picked up by other newspapers and caused a panic among the local population.Locals have steered clear of the Pulianjolai hills and parents have even decided to keep their children at home after hearing the ghost was stalking young boys. Local police have now came up with a public awareness campaign to expose the fraud which they say was created by some computer-savvy pranksters.

According to the Asian Age District Superintendent of Police K N Sathiyamurthy said: "Some prankster has downloaded the stuff from the internet and created a new scare from an old photo."

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