Snake scare grips Basti jail, 3 inmates bitten

Spokesman of prison departments and reforms headquarters in Lucknow Santosh Verma said three inmates -- Babbu, Dileep and Rajkumar -- were bitten by snakes in the 15 days while four others had narrow escape.

Inmates and staff of Basti district jail are living in fear of snakes as three prisoners were bitten by the reptiles in past 15 days with one of them succumbing to the snake bite. On Monday, the jail authorities sought the help of some snake charmers who managed to capture four snakes after carrying out a three-hour search operation on the jail premises.

The staff and inmates, however, are still under fear suspecting that there could be more snakes. (HT image)

The staff and inmates, however, are still under fear suspecting that there could be more snakes. Spokesman of prison departments and reforms headquarters in Lucknow Santosh Verma said three inmates -- Babbu, Dileep and Rajkumar -- were bitten by snakes in the 15 days while four others had narrow escape.

He said Babbu, who was serving life sentence in the jail, died after the snake bite while Dileep and Rajkumar were saved with timely treatment. Verma said jailer Satish Chandra Tripathi hired six snake charmers to get rid of the snakes and after a thorough search of the jail premises they captured four snakes.

According to the snake charmers, the snakes entered the jail premises along with drain water when it overflowed due to rain. Verma said prisoners and jail staff have been told to remain alert as presence of more snakes could not be ruled out.