9.5-feet-long crocodile seen moving on streets of West Bengal’s Kalna in second incident in last 2 weeks

The huge crocodile, believed to have come out of the Bhagirathi River, was first spotted in a crowded area, the police said. It then moved to the residential areas, leading to a panic among the residents of Palpara in Ward number 10 of the Kalna Municipality.

Soon, a team of Kalna police and forest department personnel reached the spot. With the help of the local residents, they managed to catch the crocodile with a net.

In Kalna, this is not the first time that a crocodile came out of the Bhagirathi River. (Express Photo)

Due to police vigilance, the crocodile could not harm anyone. The fire and forest department personnel were present in the area since morning.

District Forest Officer (DFO) Nisha Goswami said the crocodile was rescued and taken to the Katwa division of the forest department. “After a physical examination, the crocodile will be released in a supportive environment in the Bhagirathi River,” Goswami said.

Goswami assured that the forest department will remain vigilant at the ghats so that people are able to safely visit the banks of the river on Mahalaya to conduct tarpan.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Goswami said, “It was a male crocodile. Around 2:30 am we were informed that a crocodile was seen in the Kalna municipality area. Range officers and others rushed to the spot along with the police. We managed to rescue the crocodile in the morning.”

In East Burdwan, this is not the first time that a crocodile came out of the Bhagirathi River. Around two weeks back, a crocodile was spotted at a ferry ghat at Katwa’s Kalikapur in Agradwip. With the help of the villagers and after trying for nearly eight hours, the forest department had finally managed to lead the reptile back to the river.

When asked about the repeated instances, Goswami said, “There are different theories on why such incidents are repeatedly taking place, for example: scarcity of food, destruction of habitats etc. However, people are not really aware about the presence of crocodiles in these areas. We had also recently experienced flooding in the region. Maybe the crocodile population has increased upstream. We are looking into the reasons.”