Kendrapara (Odisha), Jul 19 (PTI) A 14-foot-long male saltwater crocodile, which had strayed into an irrigation canal in a village close to the Bhitarkanika National Park, was netted by forest officials after a five-hour-long exercise on Wednesday.

Around 35 forest personnel took a gruelling five hours to net the giant crocodile in the presence of frightened people at Mahulia village in Rajnagar police station area.

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The local residents were frightened after the giant crocodile managed to sneak into the canal during the high tide from Baunsagada rivulet by crossing the village road.

The crocodile tried to attack a farmer when he was taking a bath in the canal, following which villagers alerted the forest officials.

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"It was quite difficult to catch the huge crocodile. It was later released into the wild. Thankfully, neither did the reptile harm anyone nor was it hurt," Bhitarkanika National Park Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sudarshan Gopinath Yadav said.

The saltwater crocodile population in Bhitarkanika has increased manifold from 96 in 1975 to 1,793 at present.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)