The Common Krait rescued Monday. (Express Photo by Manoj Kumar) The Common Krait rescued Monday. (Express Photo by Manoj Kumar)

Officials in the middle of a meeting with Sub Divisional Magistrate Bharat Bhushan Gogia, at his office on Monday, received a surprise visitor when a venomous snake snuck into the room a little after noon.

Officials from the forest department said a call regarding the incident was received around 12.30 pm. The SDM’s office, located on the ground floor of the mini secretariat, was immediately evacuated. “A three-member team was sent to the spot to rescue the reptile. The only catch in such an operation is finding the reptile. Once that is done, it does not take more than 10-15 minutes to retrieve it,” said Vinod Kumar, Conservator of Forests, Gurgaon. By the time officials reached the room, the snake was nowhere to be seen. It was eventually found hiding behind a desk, among computer wires.

The forest department team, armed with a snake stick, picked up the animal and placed it inside a bag before taking it away. The snake has been identified as a four-feet-long Common Krait which, officials said, is around three years old. “This is the fourth most poisonous snake in India, and the maximum number of snake bite deaths are caused because of it… It is comparatively rare over here, but there is some digging going on in the forests, so this animal may have become displaced because of it,” Kumar said.

“It was rescued and immediately released back into the Aravallis, in a section of the forest that is away from human habitation,” he said. In October, the forest department had rescued an Indian Rock Python from a banquet hall in Gurgaon. In August, an eight-feet-long Indian Rock Python was rescued from Sohna, in an operation that lasted for over half an hour.

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