By Karen Bong
TATAU, Sept 27: Another crocodile, measuring 5.29 metres long and observed to be larger than the one captured this morning, was caught at 4.25pm in Batang Tatau, where six-year-old Cicilia Julan Intik was believed to have been attacked by a crocodile while bathing by the river over a week ago.
According to Sinchew Sarawak, the capture of the beast sparked cheers from the gathered crowd as it was dragged ashore.
After nearly two hours of careful examination, authorities confirmed that no human remains were found in the crocodile’s stomach.
A video posted by Francis Ngu How Hua on the Bintulu News page reported that the crocodile hunters, along with authorities from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) and the police, successfully reeled in the crocodile.
Due to its massive size, a tugboat was deployed to assist in pulling the crocodile back to the jetty.
Earlier today, between 9.30am and 1pm, two crocodiles were captured in the same river, one of which was found to have four to five teeth which looked to have been human in origin inside its belly after it was dissected.
However, Tatau District Police chief DSP Jame Reis informed Utusan Borneo that the teeth will be sent to the Malaysian Chemical Department for examination.
These captures followed the grieving family’s decision to engage a shaman for a summoning ritual and to set traps for the creature on Wednesday (Sept 25), after eight days of search and recovery efforts failed to locate the girl’s remains.
The crocodile hunting operation is part of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation’s (SFC) initiative to catch crocodiles along the river, which began yesterday (Sept 26) and will continue until Oct 7.
Authorities have warned that all activities along a five-kilometer stretch of the river from Tatau old town are prohibited during this operation. — DayakDaily
