Freshwater crocodile caught in fishing net in Padma

A crocodile was caught in the fishing net of a fisherman at Hardinge Bridge point of the Padma River in Bheramara upazila of Kushtia last night (November 4, 2022).

The forest department officials identified it as a freshwater crocodile and released it into the river the same night, our local correspondent reports quoting Kushtia Forest Department Officer GM Md Kabir.

He said, "The crocodile was caught in the net of Abul Kalam Azad. It was 2.5 feet wide and 6 feet long. This crocodile, which was brown in colour, weighed about 35 kg."

He said that freshwater crocodiles are quite visible in the Indian part of the Padma. The Farakka Dam's gates were opened during the most recent monsoon, so it might have entered through the river, he said.

Such crocodiles, according to him, had never been spotted in Bangladesh part of the Padma before.

Hundreds of people flocked there to see the crocodile after hearing that it had been caught in a net.