In a shocking incident, four snake charmers released their reptiles in a moving train and caused chaos among passengers. All because they were upset by less money from passengers, the snake charmers released the snakes in a compartment of Chambal Express in Uttar Pradesh. The four snake charmers tried to scare the passengers following a heated exchange on Saturday evening.
For the next 30 minutes, there was chaos in the unreserved compartment of Chambal Express as the passengers scrambled to get onto the upper berths. Some passengers also hid in the washroom till the nightmare ended, a passenger named Dheeraj Kumar said.
The snake charmers boarded the train, which operates between Howrah and Gwalior, at Banda station and got off at the next stop 60 minutes later, Mahoba said Kumar, who lives in Malakpura village of Mahoba district.
The performance started soon after as the charmers flipped the lid of a basket and started playing their gourd flute. A snake emerged, swaying as they played the flute. Once the performance ended, they asked for money from the passengers. “Some people gave the money, some declined,” recalled Kumar.
The disappointment over earnings led to a heated argument between the passengers and the snake charmers. “At one point, they suddenly released the snakes in the compartment,” he said, giving people a scare of their life.
One of the passengers from the train called the railway control room and informed them about the chaos. Akhilesh Pratap Singh, the officer in charge of the Government Railway Police at Mahoba station, said they received information about snakes being released from the railway control room. The snake charmers only released them to scare the passengers but eventually caught the snakes and got off the train.
“We spoke to the passengers at Mahoba railway station and they confirmed the incident. The snakes did not bite any passenger but did cause significant distress,” Singh said. Security personnel searched the train compartment thoroughly, but could not find anything. The train, which was headed to Gwalior, was allowed to continue on its journey. The officer mentioned that the snake charmers will be identified soon.
