Snake unleashes chaos among residents of Khar society

Updated on: 24 April,2011 08:35 AM IST |
Sayed Roshan |

A live snake was found in a building compound at Khar on Saturday afternoon.

A live snake was found in a building compound at Khar on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred at around 1 pm when Javed Shaikh, a resident of Shanti Kutir, spotted the snake in the compound while having lunch. Shocked, residents escaped and informed the Khar police station who sent snake catcher Raju Kohli to capture the snake. Kohli reached the spot at 5.30 pm to find that the reptile had entered a rat hole. He began his hunt, but even half an our later he had no luck.

A live snake created panic in a Khar Society. Residents called on snake
catcher Raju Kohli who was able to rid the colony of the reptile.
Pic/Sated Sameer Abedi

After much searching, Kohli heard a movement in the compound and identified the snake as a rat snake. He warned bystanders to back away to a safe distance before he grabbed the snake by its tail and pulled it out of a hole. "It was difficult locating the snake because of the clutter. A small misstep could have been dangerous. It's a good thing no one got hurt," said Kohli.

Raju, the expert
Snake catcher Kohli has, on a previous occasion been called to actor Rishi Kapoor's house to trap a rat snake that had crawled in. Even Munnabhai actor Sanjay Dutt has had his share of reptilian visitors adds Kohli. Three tools used to catch a snake, includeu00a0-- a stick with a hook for regular snakes, tongs for poisonous snakes, and a head-catcher that is rarely used since it could hurt the reptile.