Bhubaneswar: A woman and her son have gone missing while venturing into the Bhitarkanika National Park to catch crabs.
According to reports, the incident occurred five days ago when Anjana Mirdha (45) and her son, Ratindra (18), from Debendra Narayanpur village, ventured into the Bhitarkanika to catch crabs along with fellow villagers Ahalya and Chandra. While Ahalya and Chandra returned home in the evening, Anjana and Ratindra did not.
It is learnt that the duo had gone about 10 kilometres deep into the forest, but they failed to return. The duo had entered the forest illegally, and their family and villagers had been searching for them since then.
A meeting was held in the village in the evening, following which the family approached the Rajnagar police to file a complaint. Locals and family members are assisting in the search, with suspicions arising that they might have been dragged away by a crocodile.
The forest department was also informed about the incident only last night, and a search operation was launched today. Over 10 forest officials, along with Ahalya and Chandra, who had accompanied the missing pair, searched the forest area but were unable to find them.
