Badaun, Oct 9 (IANS): A snake that was injured after an iron girder fell on it at a hardware shop in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district has been sent to Delhi in an ambulance for treatment.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar said that the cobra was injured at the shop in a village, and due to lack of proper facilities in the district and surrounding areas, it had to be referred to the Wildlife SOS Centre in Delhi.

He said the People for Animals (PFA) volunteers took the injured cobra to the SOS Centre.

The reptile was injured when a worker of the hardware shop came to pick up an iron girder and seeing the snake, the girder slipped from his hand out of fear and fell on the snake.

Vikendra Sharma, an animal lover and district president of the PFA, said that when he got the information, he reached the spot and informed former Union Minister and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi about it. She advised him to send the cobra to Delhi for treatment.

Sharma said two of his volunteers took the cobra to Delhi in a private ambulance for a cost of Rs 5000. Once the cobra recovers, it will be released in the forest, Sharma added.