RAIPUR: A team of emergency helpline number 'Dial 112' landed in a very precarious situation when it noticed a python close to the driver seat while rushing to attend an urgent call.
The vehicle was brought to a screeching halt as the staff deployed for the helpline services found themselves in an emergency situation.
It was night when a team of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) got an urgent message to hurry for immediate assistance to a residential locality at Bhilai in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh.
“As we were on the way to Supela, suddenly a big snake emerged near my seat. Driver Shibu and I were in a state of shock. We soon realised it was a python which entered atop the dashboard and vanished below through an adjacent hole near the steering shaft. We quickly blocked the gap with a cloth and covered it with tape”, said D Mahesh, a constable who was then on duty.
The next day, the vehicle was thoroughly checked the python couldn’t be found. The police team said the python might have moved out of the vehicle.
Later, they continued with the usual emergency services.
The officials said the 112 vehicles are always on the move but here no one saw the python sneaking into the jeep. “A python entering our vehicle and remained inside for four days puzzled us”, a police officer said.
“Three days later, another team was on a move in the same vehicle were startled to notice the python abruptly moving out its head from a crevice of the roof. The staff sought ab immediate help and the instruction following which they were directed to take the vehicle to a nearby automobile workshop”, said Brijesh Ojha, a Supela-based police officer.
After a team of mechanics and the policemen struggled for hours in vain to locate the python, the vehicle was finally taken to a welder shop, where the gas-cutter tore metal body sheet of the jeep at 4-5 areas and succeeded in tracking it down, much to the relief of the team engaged with the ERSS.