Rescuers in northeastern India were amazed earlier this week to discover a deadly spectacled cobra inside an electricity meter box.

A resident of Bhubaneswar saw the snake in a storeroom with a rat in its mouth on November 2 and raised the alarm.

Family members rushed in and one sprayed the snake with chemicals to drive it away.

The reptile abandoned its meal and fled into the electricity meter.

Experts from Snake Helpline were called to the scene and removed the cobra with a special implement.

They quickly realised the chemicals had made the snake lethargic and washed it thoroughly for 10 minutes.

After reviving the snake, they put it in a bag and later released it in the wild away from humans.

A spectacled cobra entered the house of Batakrushna Dalua, a resident of Bhubaneswar in eastern India, looking for food, on November 2.

Batakrushna saw the snake with a dead rat in its mouth inside a store room and raised an alarm. Other family members rushed to room and sprayed the snake with phenyl to shoo it away.

Scared, the snake left its meal and took refuge in an electricity meter box on a nearby wall.

Getting an SOS call, a two-member Snake Helpline team led by Subhendu Mallik went to rescue the cobra. They got the electricity meter box opened and removed the cobra with an Insulated handled hook.

They realised that the toxic phenyl had made the snake lethargic and washed it thoroughly for 10 minutes to remove the chemical. After the snake revived, it was put in a bag and later released in the wild.

Subhendu Mallik said: "It was a dangerous situation as there was a live wire inside the meter box that could have killed th snake and injured us. I am glad we completed the mission without any incident.”