An awareness campaign against killing snakes saved a cobra from being beaten to death in Pakur, around 515km from here, on Sunday.

One Somnath Mandal, a resident of Chandpur village on Bengal border, found a cobra in the under-construction tank of his toilet.

Instead of beating the reptile to death, as was the norm here till recently, Mandal called up the Pakur divisional forest office and sought help.

“Our forest guard Nilu Kisku rushed to Mandal’s house and rescued the snake,” Pakur divisional forest officer (DFO) M.K. Mahaling, who was in Palamau Tiger Reserve before his transfer to Pakur, said.

Contacted, Kisku said the cobra, about 5 feet in length, seemed restless and was raising its hood.

“I picked up the snake with the help of the iron rods that I was carrying with me and stuffed it into a jute bag,” he said.

Kisku showered praise on his mentor, Satya Prakash of Hazaribagh, who is an expert in rescuing snakes. “I have learnt everything from Pra-kashji. Even a minor mistake during rescue operation would have turned fatal,” he said.

The reptile was released into Harinduba protected forest in Pakur on Sunday itself.

Sources said Pakur was infamous for snakes.

“We are trying to keep both people and wildlife at the centre here. We are trying to convince people not to kill snakes and asking them to be careful when walking barefoot in places at night,” Mahaling said.

Mahaling said their campaign had yielded quick response.