Kendrapara: In yet another case of man-crocodile conflict, one more life was lost in the Kendrapara district. According to locals, Baba Amulya Das, a sexagenarian of Kulasahi village, Thursday night went to the embankment of the Brahmani River nearby to answer nature’s call when a ferocious saltwater crocodile dragged him into the river. The forest and fire brigade personnel on being informed about the incident launched a search and rescue operation but failed to trace the body of Amulya. On Friday, the forest personnel with the help of fire tender personnel carried out a search and rescue operation.
However, after 17 hours the locals came across the mutilated head of the Amulya floating on the river water. The mutilated body was retrieved in the presence of the local magistrate and local IIC. Pattamundai police later seized the body and sent it for autopsy. The forest personnel confirmed the death of Amulya in a crocodile attack. The man-reptile conflict has been going on at regular intervals mostly at Pattamundai, Kendrapara, Rajnagar, Aul, Rajkanika, and Mahakalapara blocks of the coastal district. As many as four persons, including a minor boy and a woman, have lost their lives in crocodile attacks in the last one and a half months.
Locals alleged the forest personnel have ignored their demands to erect iron fencing at the bathing ghats mostly in the crocodile-infested rivers of the district to save the life and property of the riverside villagers. When contacted, DFO Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and wildlife division Gopinath Sudarshan Yadav said the Forest department has appealed to the locals not to risk their life by entering into the crocodile-infested water bodies. He said very shortly, the bathing ghats, where man-reptile conflicts have been reported in the recent past, will be iron fenced.
