The forest department has recovered a dead crocodile from the Narkeltala canal in Mongla. Local people saw the crocodile floating in the canal on Sunday (19 October) morning and informed the forest department, which recovered it and buried it at Karamjal in the Sundarbans.

Md Azad Kabir, officer in charge of the wildlife breeding and tourism centre of the Chandpai range of the Sundarbans East Forest Division, said locals saw the dead crocodile floating in Mongla's Narkeltala canal, next to the Mongla-Ghashiakhali international waterway, on Sunday morning. It was recovered around 3.30pm and buried at Karamjal in the Sundarbans in the evening.

He said the crocodile had a rope tied around its neck and its right front leg was missing. It is believed that at least two or three days earlier someone killed the crocodile, tied a rope around its neck, dragged it and threw it into the river, and it then drifted into Narkeltala canal. The male crocodile was about 15 or 16 years old and about 9 feet long, with numerous injury marks on its body. Because it had decomposed, no part of the body could be preserved.

Azad Kabir added that inquiries were being made into who killed the crocodile, and legal action would be taken against them if information is found, because killing such animals is a crime. An extensive effort has been launched to identify the culprits, he said.

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