Bhubaneswar: A 69-year-old fisherman is feared to have been dragged away by a crocodile in the Guptagiri nullah, a branch of the Mahanadi river flowing through Mahakalapada block in Kendrapada district.
The missing person has been identified as Chakradhar Behera of nearby Barakandha village.
According to reports, Chakradhar, a retired Class-IV employee of Gojabandha Gandhiji Vidyapitha, had gone to the canal on Thursday morning to cast his net but did not return home. Family members grew worried and searched near the Guptagiri nullah. They found his bicycle and slippers lying nearby the nullah. It is suspected that the net got stuck and Chakradhar entered the water to free it, when a crocodile pulled him away.
Local residents informed the Mahakalapada Fire Station after learning of the incident. Fire personnel reached the spot by Thursday evening and conducted a search operation but could not locate him. They claimed that due to flooding in the Mahanadi, saltwater crocodiles have been moving into this canal.
The only earning member of his family, Chakradhar’s disappearance has left his family devastated.
Mahakalapada police personnel are currently combing the area.
