CHENNAI: A two-foot-long baby crocodile was found in the swimming pool of a house near Perungalathur on Tuesday morning. The occupant of the house, Balaji Thangavel (43), a businessman, is the grandson of yesteryear Tamil actor, T S Balaiah, police said.
On Tuesday morning, Thangavel was cleaning the swimming pool at his house in Nedunkundram when he noticed the small crocodile. As he has previous experience working in a crocodile farm, he caught it, police said.
He alerted the authorities after which personnel from the forest department and local police reached the scene. Forest department officials handed over the rescued animal to the Vandalur Zoo authorities.
As word about the incident spread, the public gathered in the area and appealed to the authorities to address the issue as this is not the first time crocodiles are found in the Nedunkundram residential area.
As many as 14 crocodiles were found straying in the neighbourhood and rescued in the last decade, according to authorities. A few years ago adult crocodiles measuring five to six feet were fished out in Alapakkam and Perungalathur lake beds. Two years back, the forest department also placed cautionary boards in water bodies located in Chengalpattu district, warning of crocodile movements. Besides the reserve forest and tiger reserves, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruchy, Cuddalore and Kollidam are some of the crocodile-infested areas.