Crocodile Bites Man Taking Bath In River, Drags Victim Inside Water; Body Not Found

A man taking a bath in a river in India was attacked by a crocodile Friday, the police said Saturday.

The incident took place in the eastern state of Odisha. Basant Parida, a cattle-rearer in Srirampur village, was grazing the animals when he went to the nearby Brahmani river to wash himself. This was when a crocodile leaped out of the water and grabbed Parida in its jaws.

“The crocodile suddenly emerged out of knee-length water, clamped its jaws and dragged him into the water swiftly,” an unidentified fellow herder told Odisha TV. “Hearing his scream, I immediately ran to the spot but could not rescue him as the reptile had already yanked him into the deep water by the time I reached there. Locals also rushed to the spot after I raised an alarm. We informed about the incident to the fire services personnel soon.”

Fire personnel and locals, along with the forest department staff, searched the river for the man. However, his body was not found anywhere.

“The department has erected barricades in about 30 ponds and river ghats in the park and nearby areas to prevent crocodiles from straying into water bodies near human habitations,” J.D. Pati, a senior forest officer, told New Indian Express.

Forest personnel blamed the locals for endangering themselves by carelessly entering rivers, creeks and other water bodies which are infested with crocodiles. Authorities said several riverside spots have been identified as danger zones because of frequent sightings of crocodiles. The latest incident is the fourth attack in three months around the Bhitarkanika National Park.

Odisha is the only state in India to have all the three species of the reptile freshwater gharials, muggers and saltwater crocodiles. Last year, the population of the saltwater crocodiles increased in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika National Park and its nearby areas in Kendrapara district. Some of the crocodiles spotted in the area in the past few years have been said to be more than 20 feet long, according to Down To Earth magazine.

Last month in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a huge crocodile attacked a man and ripped off his leg while he was crossing a canal. Locals who saw the attack pelted stones at the reptile to help the man. After a 15-minute-long struggle, the crocodile released the man from its grasp, but ripped off his leg.