Snakes alive!

LITERALLY.

I am not here to condone crime.

Not at all.

But as a thieving tactic, shoving snakes inside a car at a traffic light is – well – imaginative.

And also pretty much an “only in India” kinda crime.

The police in the Gurgaon, the satellite city next to Delhi, have arrested 2 snake charmers who posed as priests (I DID say it was very much an only in India crime, didn’t I?).

When cars, or even easier, auto-rickshaws stopped at traffic lights, the two, disguised as priests, would approach the vehicles and ask for money.

They pulled this stunt on a woman in a rickshaw a few days ago:

“…the auto-rickshaw has halted at a traffic signal. Police said (she) alleged that the two soon set the snakes on her and pulled a Rs2,000 note from her wallet that she had opened to give them a coin.”

(Courtesy The Hindustan Times)

This terrified woman’s report to the cops led to the arrest of the 2 snake charmers and the confiscation of their non venomous snakes, which were handed over to the appropriate wildlife authorities.

I freely admit that I’d have been pretty damned terrified if this had happened to me.

Anyway, apart from losing her Rs2,000 (or perhaps the cops got it back for her?) it looks like the woman is OK.

The snakes are OK.

And the snake-charmers have got their comeuppance.