A farmer named Rezaul Khan, 32, came to Faridpur Press Club with a live Russell's viper on the evening of Saturday, 22 June, and showed the snake to journalists.

Rezaul Khan is the son of Monoruddin Khan of the Signboard area in Aliabad union of the Sadar upazila.

Rezaul Khan said he saw the Russell's viper on Saturday afternoon while cultivating crop land in the Signboard area of Aliabad union. With the help of locals he put the snake into an aluminium pot and covered its mouth with plastic netting.

Rezaul also said he had killed a Russell's viper two days earlier, and that he saw this snake on Saturday afternoon when he went fishing. He then caught it by wrapping it in a towel.

He said he had learnt from local elders that Faridpur's Awami League leaders would give a reward to anyone who could catch a live Russell's viper, and that was mainly why he caught it alive.

Asked whether he knew that a snake's venom is the same whether it is young or fully grown, Rezaul said: "But I wrapped it in a towel."

Syed Awal Hossain Tonu, councillor for ward 25 of the municipality, told Jago News the account was true. "Farmer Rezaul Khan caught the Russell's viper and brought it. He is claiming the reward announced by the district Awami League. I went with him first to the press club and then contacted the district Awami League president and general secretary. They said forest department permission was needed. If forest officials prove it is a Russell's viper, the reward can be given."

District Awami League general secretary Shah Md Ishtiaq Arif could not be reached for comment; he did not answer his mobile phone.

Faridpur Divisional Forest Officer Golam Quddus Bhuiyan told Jago News: "Announcing such a reward is itself illegal. It puts people at risk. Why would we go and prove this? The farmer should release the snake where he caught it."

Earlier, when the Russell's viper was discussed at a district Awami League meeting on 20 June, the district Awami League's secretary, Shah Md Ishtiaq Arif, announced a Tk 50,000 reward for anyone who could kill a Russell's viper. After the video went viral, the general secretary retreated from that position a day later. On 21 June he issued a corrected statement saying that, as the Russell's viper menace had grown, anyone who could catch one alive while taking safety measures would receive Tk 50,000. The statement said the earlier remarks had been distorted in publication because of a misunderstanding.

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