A 50-year-old woman has been killed and several others injured in crocodile attacks in and around Orissa's Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, official sources said.
Two crocodiles were also killed in retaliatory attack by the locals recently.
A group of adult crocodiles pounced on 50-year-old Chanchala Digal near a creek in Trilochanpur village on Tuesday. The woman from the peripheral village of the sanctuary died on the spot.
Meanwhile, 12 from villages around the sanctuary under Rajnagar tehsil have been injured recently by crocodiles that had strayed into village water bodies.
The man-reptile conflict has so far claimed four lives this year alone, while 24 others were injured since January.
Human retaliation, on the other hand, resulted in the death of at least two giant-size crocodiles.
With the breeding season of these reptiles at its peak, they have turned restive and often stray into human habitats, the forest department sources said.