Patna: A man known locally as a snake rescuer died after being bitten by a cobra during an attempted capture in Bihar’s Vaishali district on Sunday. The incident, caught on camera and has since gone viral.
JP Yadav, known as “Sarp Mitra” (friend of snakes), was a resident of Chaksikander village in the Rajapakar police station area. Renowned for rescuing snakes and releasing them back into the wild, he was called to remove a large cobra that had appeared in a residential area.
According to eyewitnesses, a crowd had gathered as he attempted to capture the snake. Using his hands and a set of traditional tricks, he managed to engage the cobra, but was bitten on the finger during the process. Despite the bite, he continued his efforts and succeeded in locking the snake in a box. Moments later, the venom began to take effect. He collapsed to the ground and was seen rolling in apparent pain before being rushed for medical treatment. He died shortly afterwards.
This is not the first such incident in Bihar. In a similar case, Jai Sahni, another well-known snake rescuer from Samastipur, died last year following a cobra bite. He was credited with saving nearly 2,000 snakes and was known for handling them with bare hands, often performing with them in public. Like Yadav, his close connection with the reptiles proved fatal.
