Gonda: A shocking incident from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district has sparked panic after a 30-year-old man from Greater Noida, who had travelled to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral, was allegedly dragged into the Saryu River and killed by a crocodile during ritual bathing near the cremation site.
The victim, identified as Deepak Sharma, had come to Umri village in Gonda following the death of his mother-in-law, Urmila Devi. According to eyewitnesses and police officials, Deepak had helped family members prepare the funeral pyre on the riverbank before entering the river to bathe. Moments later, a crocodile reportedly emerged from the water, clamped onto him and dragged him underwater within seconds, leaving relatives and villagers horrified.
Witness Rajesh Shukla told reporters that several people present at the funeral had warned Deepak not to enter the river because of crocodile sightings in the area, but he ignored the warnings. Panic spread immediately after the attack as mourners screamed for help and local villagers, boatmen and police personnel launched an emergency search operation along the river stretch.
Officials from the local administration, police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) joined the rescue efforts. Reports later stated that Deepak’s body was recovered after an extended search operation, several kilometres away from the site of the attack.
The incident has once again raised serious concerns over repeated crocodile attacks along parts of the Saryu and Ghaghara river belts in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Similar incidents have occurred in the past, particularly near riverbanks used for bathing and funeral rituals, but stronger preventive measures and warning systems remain absent. Locals questioned how basic public safety continues to collapse in rural districts even as the state projects itself as a model of governance and development. Villagers said that if preventive measures had been taken earlier, the death could have been avoided.
