TN: Selfies with King Cobra land five in police net
An act of bravado landed five people behind bars after pictures of them posing with a king cobra they caught went viral on social media. The five men, residents of a village near Gudalur in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu, were arrested today on charges of torturing the reptile. They had also shared the pictures on social media.
The accused were in an inebriated state
Allegedly under the influence of liquor, the five accused had on August 4 caught the cobra from a tree in their locality and taken selfies after putting it on their shoulders and in other postures. Later, they shared the pictures on Facebook.
Case registered against the accused for torturing the snake
Based on complaints from wildlife activists and the public, the forest department carried out investigations and detained the five from Cherampadi area in the district today and handed them over to local police. A case had been registered against them for torturing the snake, police said adding a search was on for one more person, allegedly involved in the incident.
