Villagers say crocodile swallowed boy; wildlife officials stop rescue try

Sangeeta Yadav

Sputnik News

In view of attacks on people, villagers have asked local forest officials to release the "man-eating" crocodiles inhabiting the Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh elsewhere.

Villagers in Madhya Pradesh captured a crocodile after suspecting it had swallowed a 10-year-old boy on Monday.

The missing boy, identified as Antar Singh from the village of Raghunathpur, was bathing in the Chambal River in the morning when the alleged incident occurred.

Some villagers claimed to have seen the boy getting dragged into the river and being swallowed by the reptile. They immediately called the boy's family and relatives and managed to catch the crocodile using sticks, rope, and a net.

Hoping the boy might still be alive, the people decided to cut open the crocodile's stomach to save the child.

However, they were stopped by local police and forest officials, who learned about the incident and rushed to the spot, thus preventing the villagers from killing the reptile.

In a video, hundreds of villagers can be seen gathered around the captured crocodile, which is tied with a rope, as they thrust a bamboo between its jaws to prevent it from "chewing the boy."

Officials, however, believe that the child may have drowned in the river. They have engaged the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) team to search for the missing child.

https://sputniknews.com/20220712/indian-villagers-capture-crocodile-to-cut-open-its-stomach-after-suspecting-it-of-swallowing-boy-1097224001.html