A 10ft-long crocodile strayed into a pond in a Sunderbans village prompting villagers to take photographs of the reptile.

Officials from the South 24-Parganas forest range office and trained personnel from the Bhagabatpur crocodile sanctuary in Patharpratima mounted a rescue operation along the muddy banks of the pond.

Crocodiles swimming into ponds are uncommon after nylon fencing had been done around villages. On Thursday hundreds of people had gathered around the pond in the Patharpratima Block of South 24-Parganas to catch a glimpse of the reptile.

Milan Kanti Mandal, the divisional forest officer (DFO), of South 24-Parganas, said the crocodile was a male. “The team could spot it only when its nostrils surfaced to breathe … it was constantly swimming around the pond… it was a challenge to locate and catch it.”

Forest officials lowered a nylon net at one end of the pond and started pulling it towards the bank. The crocodile managed to give the team the slip several times before it was netted.

“Crocodiles are incredibly powerful… we needed several men to pull the net in as it was trying its best not to get caught,” Mandal said.

Once near the bank the team used bamboo poles to “steer” the reptile head towards them. One of the team members, an experienced crocodile handler at the Bhagabatpur crocodile sanctuary, threw a gunny bag connected with a rope over its head and caught hold of its snout.

Crocodiles cannot open their jaws once pressure is applied from above and he held on to the upper jaw while another person got on top of its back to restrict its movement.

“Once the crocodile could not see anything it made things easier for us and we managed to tie it down with ropes,” Mandal said.

“The pond is connected to one of the creeks nearby through a narrow channel. It is likely that the crocodile made its way into the pond through the channel,” a forest official who was part of the rescue team said.

The reptile was later released into a creek near the Kalash forest.

“Our men acted swiftly and rescued it before it could harm anyone or be harmed by villagers,” forest minister Rajib Banerjee said.