On Tuesday morning, the residents of Bawamohatra, a village in Bemetra district of Chhattisgarh, gathered near the community pond and started weeping after they saw that a crocodile, called Gangaram, had died.

The over three-metre-long reptile was buried in the village after his last rites were performed by the villagers.

A forest department official estimated that the crocodile was 130 years old.

RK Sinha, sub divisional officer (forest), told Hindustan Times the post-mortem was conducted in the presence of the villagers, after which the body was handed over to them. The crocodile died of natural causes.