Patna: Forget tea, samosas and the usual sales pitch in a train coach. Passengers aboard the Amritsar-Purnia Court Janseva Express (14618) on Friday got an unexpected offer: pay up or get a closer look at a snake. Six snake charmers allegedly turned the general coach into a travelling show, displaying snakes and collecting money from passengers before the Railway Protection Force (RPF) decided it was time to end the performance.ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Saraswati Chandra said the episode came to light after Sonepur RPF received a RailMadad complaint about snake charmers moving through the coach and seeking money from passengers by displaying snakes. RPF personnel launched an operation to apprehend them.RPF sub-inspector Shamsher Kumar and assistant sub-inspector Vijay Kumar found the six snake charmers moving through the general coach and collecting money from passengers while displaying snakes.The “show” ended when the train reached Dighwara under Sonepur division of ECR around 10.45am. RPF personnel arrested all six and deboarded them for questioning. The questioning produced another twist: the men kept changing their identities and places of residence. At different points, they claimed to be from Lucknow or Himachal Pradesh, raising further doubts about their antecedents, Chandra said.“Carrying snakes on trains and using them to solicit money from passengers is not permitted. Apart from causing inconvenience and fear among passengers, such activity also raises issues relating to wildlife protection laws and railway passengers’ safety,” he said.Later, Sonepur RPF coordinated with the environment, forest & climate change department and handed over the snakes to it. All the six snake charmers were arrested and sent to jail.
