Dhamnagar: Eleven more cobra hatchlings were rescued from the house of a villager at Kantabania Sahi under this block in Bhadrak district Monday morning.
The incident comes in the wake of the recovery of more than 126 cobras from the house of another villager, Bijay Bhuiyan, at Paika Sahi in Shyampur under this same block.
As in the case of Bijay’s residence, Gourang Jena of Kantabania Sahi also wanted to construct a Shiva temple near his house as he had spotted a cobra living nearby. He also offered prayers to the snake daily and took care of it.
However, he could not realise his dream of building the temple owing to lack of funds. Jena spotted the snake entering his house Sunday night. Fearing for his kids, he took everyone and slept in another house.
Monday morning, when Jena went back to his house he spotted another cobra near the door. He threatened the snake, which entered a basket kept in the yard. When he lifted the basket, Jena was astonished to see more than 11 snakes there. He immediately informed Sheikh Mirza, a renowned snake catcher who had caught the cobras and their hatchling from Bijay’s house a day back.
Sheikh arrived in the village and caught 11 hatchlings, while the larger snakes managed to escape. Believing in superstitions, locals as well as Jena are in a panic as they fear that the escaped snakes might attack people seeking revenge.
News regarding the bizarre incident spread like a wildfire as hundreds of villagers from neighbourhood thronged Jena’s house to get a glimpse of the reptiles.
Like what was seen at Bijay’s home, termite mounds were visible in Jena’s house as well. Villagers, who are already in a state of panic, believe that there would have been more cobras in the locality.
With the rise in the number of snakes in the area, snake catcher Sheikh got a new identity as locals praised his skills in catching the reptiles. Sheikh also charged Rs 180-200 to catch the snakes and hand them over to the forest officials.
The snakes were later released in a nearby forest.
PNN
