This is the terrifying moment a python was seen slithering out of a police patrol vehicle.

Footage shows the 12ft reticulated python crawling out from a compartment underneath the four-wheeler amid rainfall in a village in Mandsaur, India.

The snake can be seen sliding toward the roadside bushes while a visibly frightened officer remains inside the car.

Authorities said they had suspected something unusual inside the vehicle, prompting the driver to stop. The officers stepped out to investigate when the snake suddenly appeared.

No one was reportedly harmed during the encounter.

Pythons are non-venomous constrictors that prey on rodents, birds, lizards, and mammals. They lack venomous fangs and consume their prey whole by swallowing it.