Selfie with cobra costs man Rs 25,000

AHMEDABAD: A selfie with cobra costed a Vadodara-based builder Rs 25,000. Accused Yashesh Barot also put it up on FB with the caption 'cobra for Rs 1,000' which got over 1lakh likes. That picture went viral through Whatsapp and grabbed the attention of a wildlife activist who reported the matter to the forest department.
“The post was shared by a friend Jitu Chandwani on my Whatsapp number and I immediately shared the picture on my wildlife crimes group.We found out who had posted the original picture. Later, we reported him to the district forest officer who detained the accused and fined him,“ said Neha Patel, an animal activist.
“We called up the accused who confessed to having taken a selfie with the cobra and uploading it online. He later deleted the post. We fined him Rs 25,000. The cobra was rescued by someone else. Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 prohibits sale of the cobra as it is a protected species,“ said P B Chauhan, forest officer, Vadodara range.