LUCKNOW: Inmates and staff of Basti district jail are dealing with a peculiar problem. They are living in fear of poisonous snakes as three prisoners were bitten by the reptiles in the recent past. While one of them has succumbed to the snake bite, others two were convalescing in district hospital.
As per the jail authorities, in the wake of incessant rains and water accumulation on jail premises for the last one week, poisonous snakes had slithered into the premises and the barracks of the prisoners.
The three inmates bitten by the reptiles included Babbu, a convict who was serving the life term, and two under trials – Dileep and Rajkumar—who are admitted to the district hospital. While Babbu’s life could not be saved and he died during the treatment in the hospital, the other two were said to be better, said
the jail authorities.
The sources claimed that four other inmates had a narrow escape. Given the snake scare, jailor Satish Chandra Tripathi called six snake charmers seeking their help in catching the reptiles. They 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.
According to the snake charmers, the snakes might have entered the jail premises along with drain water when it overflowed due to heavy rains.