Kendrapara: A woman is feared to have gone missing from the Brahmani river bank due to a suspected crocodile attack in Alapuadia village, Alapua panchayat, within the Pattamundai police station’s jurisdiction on Monday.
As per reports, Manjulata Bhanja went to the Brahmani river to wash dishes this afternoon. As she did not return home for a long time, her family members began searching and discovered her shoe on the riverbank.
Despite an extensive search, Manjulata was not found, leading to suspicions that she fell victim to a crocodile attack. The incident was reported to the local administration and police by the villagers. Consequently, local administration, police, and fire brigade officials initiated a search operation but were unable to locate Manjulata.
Kendrapara MLA and former minister Ganeshwar Behera arrived at the scene to oversee the search efforts and offered his condolences to the grieving families. Behera called for decisive measures to safeguard the inhabitants of the Dhoya region from crocodile attacks.
Last year, crocodile attacks claimed the lives of Amulya Das from Penthapal Panchayat, Gangadhar Tarai from Taradipal Ghagaradia and Ashutosh Acharya from Nimpur village, all in the Pattamundai Dhoya area.
Despite recurring crocodile attacks in Dhoya, neither the government nor the forest department has implemented protective measures for the locals. There is an urgent need for widespread action and increased public awareness.
