The meet was also attended by state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty and renowned magician P C Sorcar Jr.

“We used to make a living out of selling venom to companies which made anti-venom serum from them. Now, we are legally prohibited from doing so and the police too leave no stone unturned to torture us,” said Kalu Shapuria of BFI.

The organisation has claimed rights for the snake charmers to sell snake venom, declaration of snakes as animal resource and not wild animals which cannot be caught, creation of snake reserves in districts and preservation of Bediya culture and language.

Chakraborty said that though he was not completely aware of the activities of the BFI, he would take out time to hear their demands. “As soon as the organisation addresses a letter to me explaining their problems, I am going to donate Rs 1 lakh for their cause,” he said.