A crocodile has attacked a fisherman in the Karamjal canal of the Sundarbans, and the Forest Department is searching the area for his body.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon (30 September) as he swam across the Karamjal canal.
Md Azad Kabir, officer-in-charge of the Karamjal Tourism and Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Chandpai range of the Sundarbans East Forest Division, confirmed the incident.
He said fisherman Subrata Mondal (32) went into the Sundarbans on Tuesday morning to catch crabs as on other days. On the way back with his catch, at about 3.30pm, he was swimming across the Karamjal canal when a crocodile attacked him, seized him in its jaws and dived under the water. His fellow fishermen Sohel Biswas, Jewel Sardar, Joy Sarkar and Swapan Biswas tried to pull Subrata free of the crocodile's mouth but failed. They then informed the Forest Department and Subrata's family, and the Forest Department, his family and villagers began searching for the body.
"The crocodile is carrying him around"
Israfil Boyati, a member of the search team, said: "Just before dusk we saw Subrata in the crocodile's mouth. The crocodile has not eaten him; it is carrying him around in its mouth and surfacing now and then. We are staying there. As night has fallen we are arranging lights. When the water drops at low tide we go into the canal to search."
Subrata was the son of Kumud Mondal of East Dhangmari village. A fisherman by trade, he made his living catching crabs, and had gone into the Sundarbans with a crab-catching pass from the Forest Department.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans East Forest Division, said fishermen who enter the forest with a pass and are killed in tiger or crocodile attacks receive a government grant, but those killed without a pass receive no assistance. Action will be taken in Subrata Mondal's case, he said.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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