THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 04 November 05 A python in the pandal
It slid into a large Kali puja pandal silently… caught in the middle of a crowd, it hissed. And that was enough to scare away everyone.
But better sense soon prevailed on a few, and they volunteered to stay back at the Tiljala pandal on Thursday morning to ensure that the 13-ft-long python, weighing 35 kg, did not go out of sight and prey on anyone unawares.
The terror that drove many away was brief. People began returning in droves to witness the unexpected and unwelcome visitor. Raktim Das, member of Paschim Banga Vigyan Mancha, which later played a key part in releasing the snake in the Salt Lake Deer Park, said: “As the crowd started shooing it away, the snake slid into a nearby pond, Chorbagi Collector Pukur.”
In the water, the snake had more trouble in store. It got caught in a fishing net. As the fishermen tugged the net, they felt an unusual weight in it. Suspicious, they took a close look and saw the python. The fishermen ran away and reported the matter to police.
Salil Bhattacharya, officer-in-charge of Tiljala police station, said: “The fishermen rushed to the thana, leaving behind the tangled snake. They sought our help and we informed the forest department.”
Meanwhile, a team from the police station, accompanied by local residents, rushed to the pond and tried to lift the snake from the water. It got injured, as, being pulled by untrained hands, some sharp ends of the net stuck to it.
As news spread, members of Vigyan Mancha — an NGO working for scientific awareness — went to the spot and rescued the snake. It was bleeding, prompting the members to give first-aid immediately.
A while later, police, forest department officers and the NGO members lifted the snake, put it in a caged truck and carried it to the deer park.
Divisional forest officer Gautam Chatterjee said: “The python was injured but is responding well to treatment.”
A python in the pandal