Local people in Chattogram have beaten two pythons to death after mistaking them for Russell's vipers. The two incidents took place on Friday night (21 June) at Deputypara in Chunti union of the upazila and on Saturday afternoon (22 June) in the Barahatia area.

In Lohagara, Chattogram, local residents beat to death a python about 5 feet long, thinking it was a Russell's viper.

Locals said a young man spotted the snake on a poultry farm. His shouting caused panic in the area and a crowd of onlookers gathered. People then beat the python to death, thinking it was a Russell's viper. On receiving the news, Forest Department staff went to the spot and confirmed that it was a python.

Mahmud Hossain, range officer of Chunti Wildlife Sanctuary, said the snake that was beaten to death was a Burmese python. This species of python lives in Chunti Wildlife Sanctuary, and it may have gone into the settlement in search of food. He said such incidents are happening because panic about Russell's viper is being spread on social media.

Separately, on Saturday afternoon, local residents in Lohagara upazila beat to death another python about 5 feet long, again thinking it was a Russell's viper.

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