Panic gripped the official residence of J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu earlier this week when a deadly cobra was spotted there –sending the security apparatus to tizzy at the highly fortified premises.
As per the sources in the CM’s Secretariat, the reptile was caught on the morning of April 18 when Mehbooba was about to leave for her office.
Sources said that the security personnel of her Special Security Group spotted the six-odd feet long snake crawling in the lawns and signaled the personal security of the CM to not to let her venture out till the “danger is over.”
In the meantime, some of the police personnel caught hold of the snake while a team of Wildlife officials was immediately called in.
A senior wildlife official told InUth that the Cobra was whisked away and shifted to a zoo, while the CM’s House was sanitized. Asked if the snake was poisonous, the official said: “Cobra is always poisonous.”
But then how come did the deadly creature venture into the highly secured premises? “We have no idea. But such creatures are free to move around so may be it simply sneaked in accidentally.”
The sources in the Home Ministry said the government has ordered an inquiry into the matter.
Sources however said snakes are occasionally seen in the vicinity of her residence in Jammu city. “Just because the landscape of the area is such, spotting snakes in not anything unique but when the case pertains to CM, you have to be extra cautious.”
