A venomous Russell's viper, known locally as chandraboda, has been caught in Dhamoirhat, Naogaon. Schoolboy Sakib Hasan caught the snake on the afternoon of Saturday 12 November in a garden beside the upazila's Ghuksi beel.

Sakib is the son of Rabiul Islam of Chakshabdal village in Umar union of the upazila and a class ten student at the local Chandipur High School.

According to local sources, Sakib Hasan went fishing in Ghuksi beel on the eastern side of Chakshabdal village. On the way back he saw the snake on an acacia (akashmoni) tree in the garden beside the beel. He skilfully caught it and trapped it in a net, then went home and informed the local forest officer, who took the snake into custody.

Locals also said the chandraboda is now an extinct species. The snake is mostly found in paddy fields and has taken the lives of several farmers in the Barind region. Because it is highly venomous, most people it bites die, and even those who survive suffer rotting at the site of the bite.

Anisur Rahman, forest officer of the Dhamoirhat beat, said the snake had been rescued. It is a Russell's viper, also known locally as chandraboda or uluboda, and belongs to the Viperidae family. It is rare in Bangladesh and is seen from time to time, he said.

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