Crocodile fear again gripped Nilakanthapur village under Pattamundai block in Kendrapada district as a youth has gone missing in the Brahmani river since Sunday evening.
While the youth, Chandan Dey, was untraced by Sunday evening, search operations by fire and ODRAF personnel were still on. Sources said Chandan had gone to his farmland on Sunday morning but he didn’t return home by the night. During searches, family members saw his belongings lying on the riverbank. From it, family members suspected that a crocodile might have dragged him into the river while bathing. On being informed, a fire and ODRAF officials reached the spot and launched a search operation.
However, the search drive was halted due to bad weather and extreme darkness. They resumed search operation on Monday morning and Chandan had not been located by the evening, sources said.