Guj:Man risks his life to 'assure safety' to crocodile; booked

A 50-year-old man has beendetained for ''harassing'' a crocodile in Vadodara district ofGujarat after a video of the incident, which occurred on thebanks of Karjan lake, showing him ''assuring'' the reptile of''safety'' from harm went viral, an official said on Monday.

During his questioning, Pankaj Patel told officialsthat he touched the crocodile after goddess Maa Khodiyar askedhim to do so in his dream.

The goddess is popularly depicted as sitting on acrocodile.

''Upon learning about the incident from social media,we booked Pankaj Patel under relevant sections of theWildlife Protection Act and detained him for questioning,''said Deputy Conservator of Forest, Vadodara, Kartik Maharaja.

Referring to the video clip doing rounds on socialmedia, he said the crocodile was resting on the banks ofKarajn lake.

In the video, a man, lated identified as Patel, can beseen sitting on the wall of the lake while a big crocodile wasseen basking in the Sun just a few feet away from him.

Patel, who looked disoriented, was seen ''assuring'' thecrocodile that he will go to any extent to protect it frompeople. He even warned the onlookers against harming ordisturbing the reptile.

Ignoring repeated warnings by the people watching thedrama from a distance, Patel is seen jumping off the wall andgoing close to the crocodile.

While praising Maa Khodiyar, Patel touched the reptilemore than once and paid hisrespects.

Luckily, the crocodile did not harm Patel and wentback into the lake.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)