MID DAY (Mumbai, India) 30 November 06 Snake in the bungalow (Ketan Ranga)
Raju Kohli, who caught a rat snake from Rishi Kapoor’s Pali Hill home at Bandra, yesterday
Sanjay Dutt was going through a bad phase in recent weeks but that did not stop him from helping friends from the film fraternity.
On Monday, Neetu Singh approached Sanjay Dutt for help. She needed the contact number of snake catcher, Raju Kohli to get hold of a snake that had entered her bungalow.
Considering that this incident occurred just a day before his judgement, Dutt did not deter from helping the Kapoors.
Kapoors’ gardener, who noticed the rat snake on Monday evening in their Pali Hill bungalow, immediately informed Neetu Singh about the same.
Singh tried contacting various snake catchers and in the process remembered reading about snakes being caught twice at Dutt’s residence in Pali Hill, as was reported in MiD DAY.
That’s when she contacted Dutt, who gave her the number and also the assurance that Kohli was an efficient snake catcher.
“I got Kohli’s number from Dutt. I had read a report of a snake catcher catching a snake at Dutt’s residence. I immediately called Dutt. But in his time of crisis, it was very sweet of him to give us Kohli’s number,” said Singh
The rescue
Finally, yesterday, Neetu Singh managed to get rid off the rat snake that was in her bungalow.
After two hours of laborious work, Kohli managed to get hold of the rat snake at 1.45 pm.
“It was tough to get hold of the rat snake. It is swift and can climb to great heights. This is similar to the one that I caught at Dutt’s residence. They are not very poisonous,” said Kohli.
Charmed
“Kohli is a sweet guy. He had a hard time trying to catch the snake. Despite all that, he did not charge us. It was dangerous for us to step out since two nights. But now, we are relieved,” said Singh.
Kohli was very impressed with the Kapoor family. “I realised much later that I was actually talking with Neetu Singh. The Kapoor family is very kind. They offered me breakfast, lunch and lots more to eat,” he said.
Hisssstory
Raju Kohli has caught six snakes at Pali Hill so far.
Two of the snakes (male and female) were caught at actor Sanjay Dutt’s residence
September 26
After 19 hours, Kohli managed to get hold of the rat snake that had entered the 11th-floor home of Dutt.
October 5
Barely after 10 days, another snake entered the 11th floor residence of Dutt on Thursday night. But for Kohli, catching this snake was easy.
The other three have been caught in Pali Naka and Pali Hill.
Snake in the bungalow