Man arrested for releasing snake inside Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat toilet

Mumbai: Nearly one-and-a-half months after a snake was found inside a toilet of the Mumbai–Solapur Vande Bharat Express, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway arrested a 37-year-old man from Mumbra on Wednesday.The accused, Jagan Arjun Bhale, a resident of Nashik district, was traced through CCTV footage and apprehended following a tip-off, officials said.
The incident had occurred in coach C-16 of train no. 22225 when passengers spotted a snake inside the washroom at Karjat and alerted railway staff. They inspected the toilet but could not locate the reptile. A second check at Pune also yielded nothing. Authorities then sealed the toilet and informed the control room. The reptile — a rat snake measuring two to two-and-a-half ft — was finally rescued at Solapur with the help of a snake catcher, said Central Railway chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila. Investigators examined CCTV footage which showed Bhale releasing the snake inside the toilet after boarding the train at Thane. Officials said Bhale confessed during interrogation that he released the snake to create panic among passengers. A case has been registered under sections 145(b), 147 and 153 of the Railways Act, and a railway court in Kalyan remanded him to 14 days' judicial custody.