A Russell's viper was found in a field in Jibannagar, Chuadanga. Villagers later killed the snake and buried it, and fear of Russell's vipers has spread in the area.

The snake was seen at around 10.30am on Wednesday (26 June) in a field in Medinipur village of Simanta union in the upazila.

A farmer who witnessed it said: "I was cutting grass in the field in the morning when I saw the snake coiled at the foot of a date palm. I called a few others, and we killed it and brought it towards the village."

A local youth, Plabon, said: "I had seen Russell's vipers on Facebook, and now I have seen one in real life. Since such a big snake was found, the whole area is afraid."

A farmer named Atiar Rahman said: "Paddy, jute and other crops are being grown in the field where the snake was found. Now that fear of snakes has spread, nobody wants to go to the field. We will be in great trouble with our farming this time."

Confirming the incident, Simanta Union Parishad Chairman Isabul Islam Milton said: "I heard that farmers killed a snake in the field in Medinipur village on Wednesday morning. But I do not know whether it was a Russell's viper. The snake was very big and thick, and there is fear of snakes in the area."

Mohammad Kajol Hossain, forest department officer for Jibannagar upazila, said: "It could not be confirmed whether the snake recovered from the field in Medinipur village was a Russell's viper. Before forest department staff reached the spot, villagers burned the snake and buried it."

However, Bakhtiar Hamid, founding president of the district environmental organisation Panakouri, confirmed from photographs that the snake was a Russell's viper.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.