Residents panicked after seeing a crocodile-like animal in a pond in Hatiya, Noakhali. But after two days of searching, the forest department says it was not a crocodile but a large monitor lizard.

Md Ibrahim Khalil, wildlife and biodiversity conservation officer of the district coastal forest department, confirmed this to Jago News from the spot on the afternoon of Thursday, 26 June.

He said: "When the local range office learned on Wednesday that a crocodile had been seen, they inspected the area. Then, for further investigation, district assistant conservator of forests AKM Arif-uz-Zaman and I went to the spot this morning (Thursday). Even after 10 fishermen cast nets for three hours, no trace of a crocodile was found."

Md Ibrahim Khalil added: "The pond where the crocodile was said to be seen is fenced all round. No aquatic animal can get in or out. It seems people saw a large monitor lizard, thought it was a crocodile and panicked. I hope there is nothing much to fear."

The animal was seen earlier on Wednesday, 25 June, in the pond at the home of Masudul Islam Sharif in ward 6 of Hatiya municipality. Many curious onlookers filmed it and uploaded the videos to Facebook.

Masudul Islam told Jago News: "The crocodile was first seen three days ago in the woodshed of a neighbouring house. When people chased it with sticks, it went into the pond at the home of former upazila parishad chairman Mahbub Morshed. From there it came to our pond on Wednesday morning."

Local people said no one in the area could sleep on Wednesday night for fear of the crocodile, and women and children are still not being allowed near the pond.

AKM Arif-uz-Zaman, assistant conservator of forests of the Noakhali coastal forest department, told Jago News: "No crocodile was found in the pond. Even so, Nalchira range officer Al-Amin Gazi has been instructed to stay in constant contact and take the necessary steps in case of emergency."

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