India's poorest state has been gripped by speculation that groups of witches are killing people in the region.
Members of the public are getting worried and authorities have appealed to residents not to carry out witch hunts.
Panic has spread throughout the remote state of Chhattisgarh in the last few weeks after reports that witches were knocking on people's doors.
It was claimed they were asking for onions and chapati breads - local staple foods - and anyone who gave them the items would die.
Local government official Subodh Kumar Singh said: "We have asked people not to believe in gossip mongering and try and think rationally.
"Awareness campaigns have been launched asking people not to harass women by calling them 'tonhi' (witch).
Chhattisgarh, in the east of the country, is deeply traditional and superstitions and beliefs in the occult are rampant.
Last year, at least 10 women were killed there on suspicion of being witches.
As panic has spread many people, including local politicians, scribbled prayers written in cow dung on their walls to ward away the witches, said the Indian Express newspaper.