3 Venomous Snakes Removed From Police Station After Officers Heard 'Hissing Noises From Different Locations'

Three venomous snakes were removed from a police station in Barjora, a city in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal on Sunday, after officers heard “noise of the hissing reptiles from different locations.”

A Russell’s viper was first discovered by a civic police volunteer Sunday evening. Shortly after the reptile was beaten to death, another snake was spotted entering the premise by a police officer. Following this, a team of expert snake catchers was called and after a five-hour rescue process, two cobras were removed from the police station.

A police officer said snakes are not uncommon as the station lies meters away from a forest area.

“Venomous snakes are not uncommon here but for a few days our officers were hearing the noise of the hissing reptiles from different locations,” the officer said.

Biswajit Mukherjee, the head inspector, said, “My officials were becoming panicked as snakes were appearing here and there within the police station premises. A few snakes were killed by the staff. So, we made no delay and called the snake catchers.”

In a similar incident in July last year, a snake slithered into a police station in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, causing panic. The four-foot-long snake first slithered on the wall before entering an officer’s room. This caused panic and brought work at the station into a stand still for several hours. Police officers tried to shoo away the reptile and “no one tried to harm the snake as it was non-poisonous."