Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Oct 25 (IANS): The search by the forest department, police and fire personnel continued on Monday for the 15-year boy who went missing after a crocodile dragged him into Kali River in Dandeli town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. The search operations will resume on Tuesday morning.

Mohin Mehaboob Gulbargawale went missing from the river banks of Kali while catching fish on Sunday afternoon. The police have found his footwear near the banks of the river.

Witnesses have told police that the boy was dragged into the water by a crocodile. The authorities have stopped the release of water from Supa dam to carry out search operations.

Meanwhile, the locals have complained about rising crocodile attacks. Two month ago a huge crocodile had entered a residential locality of Dandeli town. The video of croc passing through the residential lanes had gone viral. The case has raised concerns as Dandeli is a tourist destination for water rafting and jungle trekking.

Omkar Umesh, owner of Tribal Eco Shop in Dandeli explained that Dandeli as a tourist destination is witnessing an exponential growth. The tourists from Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra arrive in large numbers. In the last two years, a large number of visitors came from Hyderabad and Chennai also.

Dandeli municipality has to build fencing along the stretch of Kali river bank. This is the first time that such a development has been reported. Though crocodiles are present in large numbers in River Kali, they have harmed none till date. Large numbers of tourists visit Dandeli to sight Crocodiles. Because of the proactive measures by the authorities, the breeding of crocodiles has also gone up, he explained.