KANPUR- June 28 – In a shocking and tragic incident, a buffalo herder was dragged into a river and devoured by a man-eating crocodile near Dudhwa Forest while grazing his buffalo.
The herder’s partially eaten corpse was retrieved from the river following a 3-hour long rescue operation. The operation was carried by the locals on Sunday.
The victim, identified as Jameel, had motioned towards the river bank to drink water without realizing that it was crocodile territory.
Though the incident took place near Kairigarh Ghat on the river Saryu, the victim’s corpse was recovered by villagers near Nibiya Ghat, which is only a kilometre away from the spot of the incident.
Jameel was a marginal farmer who lived with his son Rizwan in Bhedora village. The village is adjacent to the Majhgai range of forests. Hundreds of locals gathered near the river as soon as the incident occurred and demanded compensation from the forest department.
It took two boats and a few villagers to carry out the rescue operation. However, they could not save Jameel and the body has been sent for post mortem.
Subhash Kumar, Forest ranger assured them of necessary action.
Anil Patel, Divisional Forest Officer said, “The file of compensation can be processed only after autopsy confirms that the man died in an animal attack.”