Crocodile kills boy in Dholpur

14-year-old boy was killed by a crocodile while grazing cattle on the bank of Chambal River in Dholpur’s Murhan Ka Pura village, police said.

The victim, identified as, Harbhan Gurjar, was grazing cattle in a forest near the river bank when the crocodile attacked him dragged him into the river, said Ram Heet at the Basai Dang police station.

The incident took place on Saturday morning, he said.

Alerted by the boy’s cry for help, villagers rushed to the river and tried to rescue him but the crocodile managed to drag him into the river, said tahsildar Ramkaran Meena.

The boy’s dead body was recovered after a six-hour-long search, he said.

District officials said the government has announced ₹ 50,000 compensation to the boy’s family from the chief minister’s relief fund. The boy’s body was handed over to the family members after conducting an autopsy, police said. Villagers said the number of crocodiles have increased in the river since the setting up of a crocodile rearing centre at Sawai Madhopur’s Pali Ghat.

The 425 km stretch of the Chambal River was declared as a national sanctuary in 1979 to protect the extinct species of river crocodile, which is managed by the Uttar Pradesh forest department’s wildlife wing. There are not warning signboards on the river stretch that is infested by crocodiles, villagers said.