A large crocodile has been seen in the Madhumati river, which flows between Faridpur and Magura districts. For several days it has been seen floating at different spots on the river. Videos of it spread on social media and caused alarm among local people, and the administration has used loudspeaker announcements to urge residents to be careful.

On the afternoon of Saturday 16 August the crocodile was seen on the south side of the bridge at Elangkhali Ghat, between Boalmari in Faridpur to the east and Mohammadpur in Magura to the west.

Local people filmed it and shared the video on Facebook, where it went viral. Before that, a crocodile had been seen in the Madhumati in Gopalpur union of Alfadanga upazila.

According to the administration and local residents, it is a long time since a live crocodile was seen in this area. While the crocodile floated for a short time near the bridge, a local young man filmed it and posted the video on social media. Its appearance in a river running past villages has caused a kind of panic along the banks.

The video, about one minute and seven seconds long and shot from the Madhumati bridge in Mohammadpur, shows the crocodile clearly. Judging from the footage at a distance, it appears to be an adult, at least 14–15 feet long and in good condition. Since then fear has gripped people living along the river, and fishermen in particular are afraid to take their boats out to cast nets.

Md Shafiqul Islam, admin of the Facebook page "Boalmari Ojana Golpo", told Jagonews that a crocodile had indeed been seen in the Madhumati. One of the page's moderators posted the video and it went viral within moments, he said, and he had since checked in various ways and found it to be true.

Md Hanif, a resident of Mohammadpur, said that for several days there had been talk of crocodiles being seen in the Gorai river in Sreepur upazila of Magura and in the Madhumati at Mohammadpur.

Mukul Kumar Bose, a teacher from Moyna village in Boalmari, told Jagonews the report was true: many people had seen the crocodile with their own eyes beside the bridge at Elangkhali Ghat, and the video had spread on Facebook.

Md Abdul Haque Mridha, chairman of Moyna union parishad in Boalmari, told Jagonews he had heard about it from people and that those living near the river were being warned.

Mohammadpur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Shahinur Akter told Jagonews she had not seen it directly but had heard about it and seen the video. After the sighting, chairmen of the union parishads along the Madhumati in the upazila were instructed to raise public awareness, and the upazila administration also carried out loudspeaker announcements.

Boalmari UNO Tanvir Hasan Chowdhury told Jagonews he had learned of the matter. Loudspeaker warnings would begin the next day, he said, and officials of the relevant Water Development Board would also be informed.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.