THIS is the chilling moment a woman was dragged down a river between the jaws of a crocodile.
Footage of the sinister creature was caught by witnesses after 57-year-old Soudamini Mahala was snapped up as she bathed in the Kharastrota River in India.
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Soudamini Mahala was taken by a crocodile while bathing in the Kharastrota RiverCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
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The croc lunged at her while she was bathing, leaving no time for rescuers to come to her aidCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
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The animal was seen dragging her lifeless body down the river by terrified bystandersCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
The huge reptile can be seen swimming through the water with Mahala’s lifeless body in its mouth.
The shouts of shocked villagers were shouting in surprise in the background audio of the video.
Despite cries for help, nobody was able to reach her in time.
Witnesses said the crocodile lunged at the unsuspecting woman and pulled her into the water before anyone could react.
Locals rushed to the river, too late to save the victim from the crocodile’s death grip.
The ordeal took place in Kantia village, in the Jajpur district Odisha, in eastern India.
“The woman was taking a bath in the Kharasrota river around 4pm on Monday,” a police spokesperson said.
“A crocodile dragged her into the high stream of the river.
“Villagers present on the riverbank tried to chase the reptile but failed to rescue her,” they added.
Emergency services rushed to the river after being alerted to the attack and have since launched a search operation to recover Mahala’s body.
Bear goes on rampage through town scalping & killing woman, 84, mauling boy, 12, and man has lucky escape as he locks himself in car
Eyewitness Naba Kidhore Mahala said villagers had jumped in to try and save Mahala.
“As we noticed that the crocodile was dragging the woman into the river, we jumped to rescue her,” he said.
“All our efforts went in vain.”
The tragic crocodile attack comes just days after a camper was found dead after sending his family photos of a bear.
The man’s body was discovered with extensive wounds two days after snapping pics of the forest giant.
Family of the unidentified camper raised the alarm after he went radio silent from Sam’s Throne Campground in Arkansas.
The 60-year-old from Missouri was found several yards from the campsite on October 2 after his son requested a welfare check as he had not heard from him “for a couple of days”.
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that he had been dragged from the campsite which has been “disturbed” and where officers found “evidence of a struggle and injury”.
“There were also drag marks leading from the campground into the woods,” the release added.
While officials await autopsy results to confirm the cause of death, they said his body had “extensive injuries consistent with those expected from a large carnivore attack”.
This is in line with pictures he sent his family just days before his body was found showing a “young male bear” near his campsite on September 30.
“Until the Arkansas Crime Lab completes the autopsy, we can’t 100% say it was a bear, but everything strongly indicates it,” Sheriff Glenn Wheeler said.
“We are attempting to find the bear and dispose of it so the Game and Fish Commission can test it for anything that may have led to the encounter.
“We know without a doubt that a bear was in camp with our victim and the injuries absolutely are consistent with a bear attack.
“This is a highly unusual case. We are very early in the investigation and search and will update as we can.
“If you are in the area, just be aware and use caution, especially with children,” he added.
“History tells us that once a bear becomes predatory, it often continues those behaviors.”
As the hunt for the bear continues, the Sam’s Throne Campground has been shutdown to the public.
The camper’s death, if confirmed to be caused by a bear, will be the state’s second fatal bear attack in one month, which is highly unusual.
Watch: BBC News joins police officers on dawn raids targeting gang behind phone smuggling
Police say they have dismantled an international gang suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to Chinain the last year.
In what the Metropolitan Police says is the UK’s largest ever operation against phone thefts, 18 suspects have been arrested and more than 2,000 stolen devices discovered.
Police believe the gang could be responsible for exporting up to half of all phones stolen in London – where most mobiles are taken in the UK.
BBC News has been given access to the operation, including details of the suspects, their methods, and to dawn raids on 28 properties in London and Hertfordshire.
The investigation was triggered after a victim traced a stolen phone last year.
“It was actually on Christmas Eve and a victim electronically tracked their stolen iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport,” Detective Inspector Mark Gavin said.
“The security there was eager to help out and they found the phone was in a box, among another 894 phones.”
The left-hand box contained the phone that sparked the whole investigation – it was heard ringing inside
Officers discovered almost all the phones had been stolen and in this case were being shipped to Hong Kong. Further shipments were then intercepted and officers used forensics on the packages to identify two men.
As the investigation honed in on the two men, police bodycam footage captured officers, some with Tasers drawn, carrying out a dramatic mid-road interception of a car. Inside, officers found devices wrapped in foil – an attempt by offenders to transport stolen devices undetected.
Two men are arrested as part of a mid-road interception by an unmarked police car, as seen on bodycam footage
The men, both Afghan nationals in their 30s, were charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods and conspiring to conceal or remove criminal property.
When they were stopped, dozens of phones were found in their car, and about 2,000 more devices were discovered at properties linked to them. A third man, a 29-year-old Indian national, has since been charged with the same offences.
Det Insp Gavin said “finding the original shipment of phones was the starting point for an investigation that uncovered an international smuggling gang, which we believe could be responsible for exporting up to 40% of all the phones stolen in London”.
Last week, officers made a further 15 arrests on suspicion of theft, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to steal.
All but one of the suspects are women, including a Bulgarian national. Some 30 devices were found during early morning raids.
Multiple phones, some wrapped in foil, were found in the car after the two Afghan nationals were arrested
The number of phones stolen in London has almost tripled in the last four years, from 28,609 in 2020, to 80,588 in 2024. Three-quarters of all the phones stolen in the UK are now taken in London.
More than 20 million people visit the capital every year and tourist hotspots such as the West End and Westminster are prolific for phone snatching and theft.
A growing demand for second-hand phones, both in the UK and abroad, is believed to be a major driver behind the rise in thefts – and many victims end up never getting their devices back.
Phone snatchers often use e-bikes or mopeds to make off at speed
“We’re hearing that some criminals are stopping dealing drugs and moving on to the phone business because it’s more lucrative,” Policing Minister Sarah Jones said.
“If you steal a phone and it’s worth hundreds of pounds you can understand why criminals who are one step ahead and want to exploit new crimes are turning to that world.”
Senior officers said the criminal gang specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability overseas.
The Met Police investigation discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset – and the force said stolen devices are being sold in China for up to £4,000 each, given they are internet-enabled and more attractive for those trying to bypass censorship.
Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met’s lead for tackling phone theft, said: “This is the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK in the most extraordinary set of operations the Met has ever undertaken.
“We’ve dismantled criminal networks at every level from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices each year.”
Many victims of phone theft have been critical of police – including the Met – for not doing enough.
Frequent complaints include officers not helping when victims report the exact real-time locations of their stolen phone to the police using Apple’s Find My iPhone or similar tracking services.
Last year, Natalie Mitchel, 29, had her phone stolen on Oxford Street, in central London. She told the BBC she now feels on edge when visiting the capital.
“It’s really unnerving being here and obviously I’m not sure who is around me. I’m worried about my bag, I’m worried about my phone,” she said.
“I think the Met Police should be doing a lot more – possibly setting up some more CCTV surveillance or seeing if there’s any way they’ve got some undercover police officers just to tackle this problem.
“I think because of the number of cases and the number of people getting in touch with them, they don’t have the resources and capacity to deal with all these cases.”
For its part, the Metropolitan Police – which has taken to TikTok and other social media platforms with various videos of officers tackling phone snatchers in recent months – says personal robbery has been reduced by 13% and theft is down 14% in London so far this year. It says up to 80 more officers are joining the West End team to focus on crimes such as phone robbery.
The force will have to lose almost 2,000 officers, as well as cut a number of services to deal with a £260m hole in its budget over the next year.
UKRAINIAN children abducted during the war are forced to make military equipment used against their homeland, chilling research reveals.
Thousands of innocent youngsters shipped to more than 200 sinister camps across Russia are being subjected to brainwashing and being used as pawns by deranged Vladimir Putin.
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Ukrainian children are being forced to help make military equipment in RussiaCredit: Supplied
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Many are forced to undergo military trainingCredit: Supplied
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Satelitte images show children forced to stand in formation at one site in April this yearCredit: Supplied
Sickenlingly, satelitte images shows children being used as slave labour to assemble drones and other supplies fuelling the tyrant’s war machine in Ukraine.
Military training has been observed at around 40 of the sites holding children as young as eight, including ceremonial parades and drills, and combat training.
Officials told The Sun it shows Kremlin stooges are teaching children to fight against their home, blasting their use as a “weapons” against Ukraine and beyond.
Daria Herasymchuck, advisor and commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation, told The Sun: “For those of us who have observed Putin’s actions up close for more than a decade, we are well accustomed to their evasion, distortion and calculated indifference.
“We are appalled by the large-scale, logistical and operational capacity Russia is operating in – using children, who are always the most vulnerable victims in armed conflicts, in such a way, is deliberately cruel.”
Since megalomaniac Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and sent to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and occupied territory.
These sites range from summer camps and sanatoriums to a military base, and, in one case, a monastery, according to research by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL).
Russia is known to have engaged in the deportation, re-education, militarisation and forced adopting of Ukrainian children since at least 2014 from the occupied territories of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.
But since Putin’s ordered his troops in more than three years ago, researchers say these barbaric efforts have siginificantly expanded.
The HRL has used satellite imagery and open source materials to identify and track Ukrainian children snatched during the war.
Putin is a liar – no one should be fooled into believing he wants real peace, warns Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister
Its horrifying report, Ukraine’s Stolen Children: Inside Russia’s Network of Re-education and Militarization, reveals the staggering efforts Moscow goes to to brainwash these youngsters.
Children have been rounded up and moved to at least eight different location types.
These are cadet schools, a military base, medical facilities, a religious site, secondary schools and universities, a hotel, family support centers and orphanages, and camps and sanatoriums.
At least two new cadet schools have been constructed, and at least 49 of the 210 locations have been expanded since the start of the war.
Children are forced to develop “fire and naval training skills” at some sites as part of a warped militarisation campaign.
They are required to participate in “shooting competitions and grenade throwing competitions” as well as receive “tactical medicince, drone control and tactics” training.
In one instance, youngsters from Donetsk oblast received “airborne training” at a military base, the HRL’s report – shared with United Nations Security Council- reveals.
Children have also been used to help produced military equipment for Russia’s armed forces, including drones.
Herasymchuck, of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, told The Sun: “The report shows Russia is prepared to use Ukraine’s own children as a ‘weapon’ against Ukraine, and Europe more broadly.
“They are being trained to fight against their own homeland.
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Pictures show children inside Russian ‘re-education’ camps in a bid to rid them of their Ukrainian heritageCredit: Bring Kids Back Ukraine
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Chilling pictures showed a torture chamber in Kherson where children were allegedly abusedCredit: Security Service of Ukraine
“This is all part of Russia’s long-term campaign to erase the Ukrainian identity – central to this is the Russification and militarisation of Ukrainian children as the report outlines.”
Some youngsters have been held temporarily before returning home – while others have been held indefinitely.
As part of Putin’s callous regime to indoctrinate these children, many have been pushed into a network of so-called family centres.
Others have been pushed into Russia’s programme of coerced fostering and adoption – seeing them eventually placed within a Russian family.
For those who return home, Ukraine authorities have been told of the drastic work that has to be done to undo the damage.
Herasymchuck said: “Rehabilitation for children who return from deportation is one of the most sensitive and complex aspects of our work.
“These children have experienced not only physical displacement but also deep psychological trauma.
“When kids return, children often feel confused, disconnected, or afraid.
“These children have been taught not to resist. That is deeply alarming. Some carry guilt or shame. Others return with hostility or denial of their own identity.
“This is why our work does not end with bringing children home.
Children used as ‘weapons’
Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)
RUSSIA is using abducted and brainwashed children as “weapons”, one of Zelensky’s staff battling to rescue Ukraine’s kidnapped kids warned.
She warned Vladimir Putin‘s thugs are indoctrinating these youngsters and those living in Ukrainian territory under Russian control.
Bring Kids Back Ukraine operations director Daria said Moscow will push them into joining Russia’s army to use them as a “weapon” against Europe in the future.
Since Putin illegally invaded Ukraine three years ago, tens of thousands of children have been kidnapped and taken into Russia.
Sinister camps have been set up in Russia where children are sent before having their official documents altered and being placed in Russian families.
Often the children are told that their loved ones have abandoned them and that they are now part of the Russian Federation.
Mariana Betsa, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, told The Sun how some children have been abused and suffered sexual violence.
She said: “It’s not just a statistic, 20,000. It’s a life behind every person behind every statistic.
“We have so many families who were separated. We have so many children who were abducted.
“We need to return every single child.”
Presidential advisor Daria meanwhile warned Russia will use the children as a “weapon” against not only Ukraine, but the rest of Europe.
She said: “We are working on keeping this matter in the spotlight and we think that it is extremely important that it be a part of these talks because the Ukrainian children which Russia keeps under its control
“It’s a threat to global security, to Ukraine’s security.
“There are 1.6 million Ukrainian children currently staying in the temporarily occupied territories under the control of Russia.
“They’ve been indoctrinated, they’ve been militarised.”
“Under the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Ukraine has built a reintegration system that provides each child with a tailored protection and recovery plan.
“Based on children’s needs, they receive medical care, psychological support, legal aid, safe housing, and access to education.”
Russia attempted to denounce the warrants as “outrageous and unacceptable”.
Lvova-Belova has attempted to portray the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as a Russian rescue mission since being appointed Putin’s children’s commissioner in 2021.
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Children are forced to speak and write Russian as well as sing the national anthem every dayCredit: Bring Kids Back Ukraine
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Hundreds of kids have been taken to a boarding school in Perevalsk in Russian-occupied eastern UkraineCredit: Perevalsk special school
