MUMBAI: Paranormal tales, ghostly images and ‘bhoot’ researchers have got increasingly active on online groups and social networking sites of late. Concerned activists who debunk and oppose such supernatural phenomena have, consequently, become equally visible on the internet .

Ghost enthusiasts who regularly follow groups such as Indian Paranormal Society (IPS), Team Pentacle and Indian Paranormal Team (IPT), among such others, frequently share their eerie experiences on the web where they organize meets to go on “nocturnal field trips” for some “ghoul sightings”.

Earlier, a few youngsters had arranged for a paranormal event at a “mysterious hill” in Pune, for which the entry fee was Rs 1,000 per head.

“We basically go to places that are said to be haunted or there is something strange about them. We systematically do our research and even try to click photos of paranormal encounters,” said one of IPT founders, Akshai Sthalekar.

He said that along with another spiritual healer, Sarbajeet Mohanty, they try and help disturbed people through meditation and spiritual healing and protect them from “spirit attacks”. Sthalekar further said they have a special branch called SPIRO (Spiritual and Paranormal Investigations/ Research Organization) which studies the “findings” brought in by teams during field investigations. These findings are then discussed with demonologists and paranormal researches in the UK and the US.

Most paranormal researchers are in their 20s or early 30s. Several have already been to some of the “most haunted places in the country” such as Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan and an old bungalow in Mussoorie.

"We do use scientific instruments like the electronic voice phenomenon (EVP), thermal imagery equipment and infra-red cameras, among others, while examining any paranormal activity at a spot,” said Gaurav Tiwari of IPS.

Now, a group of post-graduate students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), for the first time in the history of the 75-year-old institute, is in the process of making a research documentary titled ‘Bhayanak Bombay’. It will include interviews of those who either deal with or have had “ghostly experiences”.

"We are studying how the normal and the paranormal coexist in this bustling metropolis where people struggle to even get a toehold to get by. It is amazing how people casually inform that certain real estate properties cannot be sold as they are ‘haunted’,” said TISS student Ankita Bhatkhande. She along with Alia Sinha, Elisha Walia, Robin Zutshi and Nishajyoti Sharma have almost completed their research for the film.

Rationalists and activists, on their part, are doing their bit to counter “ghost fiction” on the web. Avinash Patil, executive president of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), told TOI: “These ghosts , spirits, ghouls are just fictional beliefs that are in fact wrong and cater to blind faith. Our founder member, Narendra Dabholkar, was in fact murdered because he opposed superstition.’’

MANS has an online presence where it tries to dissuade people from getting carried away by fascinating ghost stories. When told of the scientific manner in which paranormal activists conduct their investigation with modern-day tools, Patil countered: “These are just gimmicks undertaken by thrill-seeking youngsters.”

Mumbai-based author of a book on ghosts and exorcists, Parur S Ganesan, said, “I have, in the past, invited workers of MANS to have a public debate between believers and non-believers, but they did not accept my request.”

In 1971, when Ganesan was public relations officer at the Andheri-based Santacruz Electronic Exports Processing Zone (SEEPZ), he had arranged for a Christian priest to conduct an exorcism at the ruins of the 500-year-old Saint John The Baptist Church, which is located within SEEPZ.

“The ghost of a young bride in a white dress was often seen frightening the people at SEEPZ, including one canteen boy who used to sleep inside the campus. However, after the exorcism, the ghost was never again seen, and is possibly at peace,’’ he said, matter of factly.

