In a bizarre incident, a man went missing reportedly following a crocodile attack at Kunduvayal under the Meenangadi police station limits in Wayanad district on Wednesday noon.
The victim was identified as Surendran, 58, of Keezhanikkal near Meenangadi.
According to the police, the man went to collect fodder for his cattle on Wednesday around 2.30 p.m. near his house on the banks of the Karapuzha river.
While Surendran was collecting the fodder, his wife was in their house, nearly 200 metres away.
Later, she reached the spot but could not find her husband. She found a deserted shoe, a sickle, and a bath towel belonging to Surendran. A trail was also noticed on the river bank, indicating that an unidentified animal might have forcibly dragged him into the water.
Villagers, members of the NDRF, and Fire and Rescue Service officials were conducting searches even in the late evening after closing the shutters of the Karapuzha reservoir.
Though Forest department officials visited the site, they could not trace the pugmarks of any animal owing to the torrential rain, Forest department sources said.
