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According to Sunish Subramanian, member secretary of PAWS, their office received a tip-off that a snake basket had been left abandoned near a hutment in Kalwa (E) on Friday at around 8.30 pm. Following the call, he along with a team of two volunteers and the driver left in their rescue ambulance. After rescuing the snake, the group was on their way back to the office when the incident occurred.
“We were waiting at the railway crossing signal when a mob of eight to 10 people appeared from nowhere and started pelting stones at us and smashed our vehicle with bamboo sticks. We were shocked,” said Subramanian.
He said that they had been rescuing cobras from snake charmers around Kalwa and Kurla, and this had caused discontent among the certain people.
The mob also pulled out Ram Makhija, driver and member, and beat him up. “They beat Makhija with sticks and stoned his head, hands and legs,” said Subramanian. Makhija was taken to the Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Thane where he received four stitches on his head.
The Kalwa police have registered an FIR against six offenders — allegedly led by a woman, Savitribai Jaiswal. “Three people, including Jaiswal were arrested on Friday itself, but three others managed to escape and are still at large,” said a head constable at the Kalwa police station. He added that while two of the accused, Kasur Gadge and Prashant Gaikwad were released on bail this Saturday, Jaiswal had been sent to judicial custody till November 2. Subramanian and volunteers Chandramani Yadav and Kishan sustained minor injuries. Subramainan said that Jaiswal and her son have, in the past, often stopped and questioned PAWS volunteers while they confiscated snakes from the charmers.
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