A cobra was spotted and subsequently rescued from the judicial complex in Bhubaneswar on Thursday hours before President Murmu was set to inaugurate the building.

The 2-foot-long deadly speckled cobra was rescued from the premises at 10.30am on Thursday. The President inaugurated the sprawling complex in the evening.

General secretary, snake helpline, Subhendu Mallik told The Telegraph, “I received a call from the authority about the snake inside the premises. I immediately rushed to the site and spotted the snake taking refuge underneath a barricade plate. I rescued the deadly speckled cobra and later released it in its natural habitat.”

Mallik said, “The snake was spotted near the complex’s main entrance. It was found crawling on the mid-path of the main road inside the judicial complex in front of its gate. It was first spotted by a driver who alerted others. Soon others cordoned off the area and there was panic. If this had happened during the President’s stay there would have been havoc.”

Mallik said: “The snake is a young one. The judicial complex is located in the heart of the city. There is no chance the snake crossed the busy road and entered the premises. ”

Mallik added: “I also suspect the presence of more cobras inside the judicial complex as the snake might have given more eggs which later gave birth to hatchlings. A young cobra means there could be other snakes from its batch of hatchlings. However, we did not find any snakes during the site scan. The entire judicial complex premises should be scanned and possible snake entries should be identified and closed.”