Principal Secretary — Rajiv Trivedi may not be as professional as a Bear Grylls or a Wild Frank when it comes to adventures with wild animals, but when it comes to catching snakes in the wild, he is no less.
While the very sight of a snake in your backyard is enough to immobilise you with fear, the ‘wild side’ in this top cop comes alive the moment he spots one such reptile. Like all other bureaucrats, his work involves attending high level meetings and going through innumerable files, but this senior IPS officer is an exception and how. Meet the bureaucrat who can catch snakes with ease!
Rajiv who resides in the wild but serene surroundings in Pleasant Valley is perhaps the only IPS officer who is self trained in catching snakes. Over the last few months, the 1986 batch IPS officer has caught nearly half a dozen snakes all by himself!
“Earlier, I caught a cobra in my house which was later left in the wild. From then, I procured the equipment (snake tong) to catch snakes and trained myself to be safe and careful under every circumstance. I do not have any fear,” shares Rajiv Trivedi.
Only yesterday, he caught a mature Bronzeback tree snake. “It was a very beautiful snake,” he smiles, even as his Personal Security Officers (PSOs) were at their wits end as their ‘saar’ went about catching the snake.
Trivedi points out that Pleasant Valley being a rocky and forest area with lots of shrubs, bushes and trees besides water bodies, is home to a lot of wildlife including snakes. “There is also a wide variety of birds and butterflies and there are peacocks everywhere.”
The 57-year-old officer adds, “All the residents are senior officers and are aware of the local situation. We consciously preserve the ecology while being careful and vigilant. There have been many sightings of snakes and other animals but luckily no harm was caused to anyone.”
Apart from his love for sports, he says that the only TV programmes he watches is about wildlife.
