THE STATESMAN (Calcutta, India) 18 July 03 Cobras to the jail ‘rescue’ (Nalin Verma)
Patna: As archaic wisdom goes, the most venomous of cobras coils around Lord Shiva’s neck. Our myth is also replete with stories of snake gods saving the throne of Indra and doing other rescue acts.
Here is a real-life story of how two cobras “rescued” two alleged criminals from a police lock-up last night.
Police had arrested the duo, Shekhar and Azad, in connection with a road hold-up. They were placed in the lock-up of Alamganj police station in the Patna City area.
As darkness enveloped the neighbourhood, the two started wailing from their cell. Their guards, taking this to be some prank, barked at them to keep quiet. But the two prisoners continued to scream at the top of their voices.
Intrigued, sub-inspector Sanjay Pandey entered the cell to see what the matter was. To the surprise of the staff, he too joined Shekhar and Azad in crying himself hoarse.
At this, almost the entire police station made a beeline for the lock-up. They were greeted by two giant-sized cobras at the door of the cell, their hoods up and menacing. But, perhaps drawing strength from their superiority in numbers, sanity prevailed amongst the policemen. They chased out the reptilian strangers. The two youths were also dragged out, weak in their knees.
Perspiring profusely, the duo in unison declared they would not spend a minute inside the lock-up. “Hamhe goli maar dijiye lekin lock-up mein mat bhejiye... (Shoot us if you must but don’t send us back there),” they quavered with folded hands.
The two had nothing more to ask for save being kept outside the cells for the night. This bought them their freedom, because there was no other place inside the thana where they could be put up.
“Figure for yourself their state of mind after they saw the two huge snakes inches away from them... it was not advisable to keep them here,” said Pandey. “This is the rainy season. There are plenty of snakes in the knee-high grass and shrubs outside. It’s impossible to prevent them from getting in and coiling up in a dark corner.” So Shekhar and Azad, still trembling and throats parched, found themselves spending the night at home.
This is shravan, the month of Shiva. The old wives’ tale at Alamganj has it that the gods sent their reptilian emissaries to spare the two from a night behind bars. But that’s another story....
Cobras to the jail ‘rescue’