A 12-year-old boy from a remote village of Odisha’s Kendrapara district displayed exemplary courage to save his 26-year-old uncle from claws of death following attack by a furious estuarine crocodile.

The survivor Binod Mallick, an inland fisherman from Kandira village, is undergoing treatment at a government run hospital in Rajnagar recalled the harrowing experience and thanked his nephew Shiku for surviving the crocodile attack.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening hours at a creek in Kandira village under Rajnagar tehsil. The victim sustained multiple wounds but is out of danger said officials. The survivor Binod and his nephew had gone to creek-side field to relieve themselves when the mishap took place.

As they entered into creek water for a wash a crocodile leaped from the water and attacked Binod all on a sudden. His nephew tried to disorient the animal by directing light towards it from the torchlight.

Then he picked up a bamboo stick and dealt a blow on animal’s head. The reptile which had clung onto the victim was jolted by the sudden attack and left the man to slip into the water, said Sarpanch of Andira gram panchayat, Mrs. Diptimayee Behera. “ I tried to sight the crocodile. I focussed light towards it from torch. Light ray disturbed it. Then I picked up the stick that was lying near the creek and hit it” said Shiku.

The latest crocodile attack occurred outside the national park limits. The state forest department is bearing the cost of treatment of the man injured person. Besides the department would also award compensation sum to the injured person’s family as per revised rules, said Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) forest division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya.

Forest personnel however are of the view that people are exposing themselves to crocodile attack by venturing into crocodile-infested water bodies. “The forest department has initiated a series of measures to save human and domesticated animals’ lives from preying crocodiles.

Over a two dozen of riverside spots were identified as danger zones because of frequent sighting of reptiles in these places. Warning has been issued to people to avoid these troubled water zones. The bathing ghats which have become vulnerable due to crocodile intrusion have been barricaded”, said officials.