13-feet-long crocodile rescued from Dev River in Vadodara

VADODARA: Two days after it killed a woman, a 13-feet-long crocodile was rescued from Dev River in Waghodia taluka of Vadodara late on Saturday night. The reptile has been handed over to the forest department. Locals heaved a sigh of relief as over last few years, the giant crocodile had been attacking people who went the river bank.
“There were attempts to rescue it in the past too but the reptile remained elusive. It used to attack the locals and disappear in the river. We laid a trap for the crocodile for last two days and managed to capture it,” said Hemant Vadhwana, a wildlife activist. Two days ago, the crocodile had attacked a woman identified as Mangiben who was washing clothes near the river bank in Mahadevpura village.
Before the passers-by could intervene, the reptile dragged her away in the river. Locals including the woman’s husband began search for her and at one point of time, they came face to face with crocodiles in the river that is infested with many reptiles. After an hour’s search, they finally managed to locate Mangiben’s body and fished it out.
Vadhwana claimed that in March this year, the same crocodile had also killed a 70-year-old woman who entered Dev River to wash clothes. Javra Parmar was standing knee-deep in the river, when the crocodile caught hold of her legs and began dragging her. Luckily, some locals spotted Parmar and jumped in the river to save her.
Two of them came close to the reptile and tried to scare it away by hitting sticks wildly on the water’s surface. The crocodile finally let her go and disappeared in Dev River. Parmar was rushed to a hospital but she succumbed to injuries later.