Kendrapada: A woman’s mutilated body was recovered from the Brahmani River in Odisha’s Kendrapada district on Tuesday, a day after she reportedly went missing and was suspected to have been dragged into the water by a crocodile.
The deceased was identified as Suchitra Das, a resident of Damodar Patna village in the Alapua area under Pattamundai block.
According to local sources, Suchitra had gone to the Brahmani River on Monday but failed to return home. When she remained untraceable, her family members alerted villagers, who suspected that she might have been attacked and dragged away by a crocodile.
A massive search operation was launched involving personnel from the Forest Department, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), the fire services and local villagers. The teams searched the river and its banks throughout the night and continued the operation on Tuesday morning.
The search ended in tragedy when villagers spotted a mutilated body floating near Jhadh Mahapurush Peetha. Fire services personnel retrieved the body from the river and brought it ashore.
The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death and determine whether it was the result of a crocodile attack.
The Brahmani River is known to have a sizeable population of crocodiles, and residents of the area have repeatedly expressed concern over the threat posed by the reptiles to people using the river for daily activities.
