A 10-year-old boy was allegedly killed by a crocodile in Odisha's Kendrapara district, police said on Thursday.

The crocodile pounced upon Ashutosh Acharya, a class 5 student, when he was bathing in the Brahmani river at Nimapur village, which is on the outskirts of the Bhitarkanika National Park, they said.

The half-eaten body of the boy was found by locals after an hour-long search, said an officer of the Pattamundai police station, where the incident happened on Wednesday.

The nesting season of salt-water crocodiles is in full swing at present, and they turn violent if they fear any interference in their habitation during this time, said officials of the Rajnagar Mangrove (Wildlife) forest division.

The family of the deceased would be given Rs 6 lakh as ex-gratia, they said.

The Bhitarkanika National Park and the adjoining Mahanadi deltaic region are home to 1,793 saltwater crocodiles, they added.

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