Kendrapara: A man went missing Friday afternoon after being dragged deep into Brahmani river water by a crocodile in Pattamundai area of Kendrapara district.
The incident took place while the man — identified as Basant Kumar Parida from Srirampur village under Pattamundai block –was washing his hands at the water body.
According to an eyewitness, Parida was grazing cattle near the river and went inside the water to clean himself.
“I was also grazing cattle nearby while he went to the river for a wash. The crocodile suddenly emerged out of knee-deep water and dragged Basant into the Brahmani River swiftly,” a local herdsman said.
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“After hearing Basant’s scream, I rushed to the spot but could not rescue him as the crocodile had already wrenched him into deep water by the time I reached to help. Some local villagers also came to the spot after I raised an alarm,” the fellow herdsman added.
On being informed by locals about the incident, a team of fire services personnel reached the water body. Despite a frantic search carried out till the evening, Basant’s body could not be fished out from the water. He is feared dead.
Notably, several riverside spots here have been identified as danger zones because of frequent sighting of crocodiles in these areas.
The forest department has also erected barricades with alert signages at several spots near Bhitarkanika to warn people not to move outside the permitted areas, in order to prevent man-crocodile conflicts.
PNN