In the latest incident on Wednesday, a 15–year-old boy was killed by an estuarine crocodile which pounced on him while the former was going to take bath in the Kharasrota river. According to forest official sources, the deceased was Manoranjan Sahu (15), son of Manguli Sahu of Nalapahi village under Aul police limits. While he was bathing in the river water, a saltwater crocodile pounced on him and dragged him into the mid of the river. Attempts by locals to rescue him did not yield any result. About 4/5 mechanised boats were engaged to trace out the body.
The deceased was a student of class 10th and son of a rickshaw puller. Such incidents are frequent during the nesting and breeding season of the estuarine crocodiles. Though the locals demanded before the Forest Department to erect fence in the bathing ghats of crocodile infested rivers, but several bathing ghats still are unsafe.