Plot twist: Indian forest ranger posed for photos with python draped around his neck. It nearly strangled him

The rock python had just killed and eaten a goat, but perhaps more troubling, the reptile had crushed and consumed its meal within shouting distance of a school. Something had to be done.

So worried residents in Jalpaiguri, a city in northeast India, called Sanjay Dutta, the local forest ranger, on Sunday.

As onlookers stared, Dutta corralled the snake with an animal-control pole, then used thick gloves to grab the snake’s head and pick it up.

Crisis averted. All Dutta had to do was put it into a sack for quick trip back to the wild, perhaps to the banks of the nearby Teesta River, where it wouldn’t pose a threat to humans.

Instead, Dutta draped the snake around his neck.