Millions of people travel enormous distances on Indian trains every day, which are often considered the nation’s lifeline. Every ride has a unique experience, whether you’re a long-distance tourist or an early morning commuter. Rail travel is often unpredictable due to the diversity of the crowd as people board trains. Some of them are so bizarre that they make commuters chuckle, while others are more commonplace, such as the tea vendors, snackers, or toys that stroll the aisles.
The majority of visitors are used to being the focus of beggars or street entertainers. Even though this is generally innocuous, some people may find it very unnerving, particularly if safety concerns are brought up. Occasionally, these incidents garner public attention, which leads to conversations regarding railway officials’ accountability and passenger safety. One such incident recently made headlines when a man with a snake was spotted begging for money from passengers. The railways have now addressed the situation.
On social media, a video of a man holding a snake in an Indian train went viral:
Concerns regarding the safety of Indian train passengers were recently sparked by an unsettling video showing a guy holding a snake.
The Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express was used to record the occurrence. The individual parading the reptile, which is probably a non-venomous species like a rat snake, is seen in the widely shared video. The most startling thing, though, is that he was doing this only a few inches away from the riders, which made them nervous and uncomfortable. He also noticed some passengers giving him money.
X user Deepak Raghuvanshi posted this video to social media with the following caption:
#Sarp_darshan_on_Rail Man with snake boarded at Mungaoli (M.P.). New way of Taking out #money from Hard Working Labour class inside #IndianRailways @RailwaySeva @RailMinIndia @Central_Railway. Train: Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express and Location: Between Mungaoli to Bina Junction.
Have a look at the original video below
#Sarp_darshan_on_Rail
Man with snake boarded at Mungaoli (M.P.)
New way of Taking out #money from Hard Working Labour class
inside #IndianRailways @RailwaySeva @RailMinIndia @Central_Railwaytrain : Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express
Location: Between Mungaoli to Bina Junction. pic.twitter.com/7vM4UhcCaq
— Deepak रघुवंशी 🇮🇳 (@draghu888) September 22, 2025
What was the Railways’ response to the incident?
The official RailwaySeva X account requested more details from Deepak Raghvanshi in reaction to the video. They requested that he enlist the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to investigate the matter. RailwaySeva replied by writing,
We will require your journey details (PNR / UTS no.) & mobile no. preferably via DM. You may also raise your concern directly on http://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in or dial 139 for speedy redressal- RPF India
We will require your journey details (PNR / UTS no.) & mobile no. preferably via DM.
You may also raise your concern directly on https://t.co/JNjgaq11Jl or dial 139 for speedy redressal
– RPF India https://t.co/utEzIqAAkm
— RailwaySeva (@RailwaySeva) September 22, 2025
However, this is not the first instance of this type of situation. Four snake charmers wreaked havoc on passengers in 2023 when they let their critters loose in a Chambal Express cabin in Uttar Pradesh. They were disgruntled with their profits and, following a furious fight on Saturday night, tried to scare the passengers after a show. For the next half hour, there was chaos in the unreserved compartment as passengers hurried to board the higher sleepers.
A Kerala travel influencer shared a shocking account of his experience travelling to North India in a passenger train’s general coach in 2024, where a man allegedly threatened and demanded money from passengers by brandishing an Indian cobra. On social media, his video got viral as well.
It is impractical to expect security aboard Indian trains, though, as demonstrated by occurrences like this one. Officials never tried to keep trains safe and failed to stop such chaos-instigators from entering.
How do you feel about this kind of thing? Please leave your opinions in the article’s comment section.
