Crocodile takes shelter inside police station in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri

Nearly a dozen police personnel at the Pallia Kotwali here were in for a fright on Thursday night when a nearly 4-foot-long young crocodile was found occupying a corridor of the building.

The situation was brought under control by Dudhwa Buffer Zone forest officials who rushed to the site and captured the reptile.

"The captured crocodile was released in the Dudhwa area," Anil Kumar Patel, Deputy Director of Dudhwa buffer zone, told PTI on Friday.

He added that the buffer zone forest staff in Pallia range has been instructed to launch a drive to capture stray crocodiles hiding in nullahs and drains in the city.

Pallia Kotwali in-charge Vidya Shankar Shukla said the crocodile was spotted inside the police station around 9.00 pm on Thursday night.

"Without irritating the reptile, the local forest department officials were informed who captured it and took away with them," he said.

"Pallia kotwali is located near a large nullah in which crocodiles often take shelter and when the area is flooded, they shift to convenient water bodies with rain waters. However, this year, rainfall was inadequate and the nullaha has grown almost dry due to which crocodiles are taking shelter in nearby residential areas," Patel said.