Crocodile swallows 7-year-old boy in Madhya Pradesh

New Delhi, July 12: In a shocking incident, a 7-year-old boy was swallowed by a crocodile in Sheopur of Madhya Pradesh. The incident occurred when the boy had gone to bathing in the Chambal river on Monday morning.

According to the reports, the crocodile dragged the boy into the river when he was swimming and the locals alerted the victim's family immediately. The villagers captured the crocodile using net, sticks and rope in a bid to retrieve the boy.

They wanted to slit its stomach open.

As the news spread of the crocodile attack, an alligator department team and a police team rushed to the spot and stopped the villagers from killing the reptile.

"Therefore, they captured and tied it besides thrusting a bamboo between its jaws to ensure that it didn't chew up the boy," said locals.

The victim's family hoped that the boy would be alive in the crocodile stomach and wanted it to be released only after it spews out the boy.

"The boy went deep into the river while bathing. The villagers said that the child had been swallowed by a crocodile. Then they caught the crocodile using a net and sticks. The alligator department has started action in the matter," India Today quoted Raghunathpur police station in-charge Shyam Veer Singh Tomar as saying.

However, the crocodile has now been released despite the opposition from the family.

The villagers have complained that there are hundreds of crocodiles in the river and there have been many instances of crocodile attacks on human.