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SPG fails crisis test as snake
enters PM's house: AFP

The Times of India said the crack team, specially trained to guard VIPs, showed up in very poor light when the snake "came calling past midnight on Wednesday".

"A several foot-long hissing and slithering snake was the last thing that the Special Protection Group (SPG) expected," it said. "Everybody went into a tizzy, not knowing what to do. Finally, the SPG did what most Delhiites do when in trouble -- dial 100, the police control room number."

The daily quoted sources as saying that several top police officials with "crackling wirelesses" swooped down on the lawns of Vajpayee's house, located in a high-security lane. The police, too, were ineffective until someone remembered that India was also a land of snake charmers.

Several snake charmers, armed with their flutes, were deployed on the lawns. "Strains of the flutes wafted across Race Course Road, but the snake refused to show up. Finally, the search was called off," the daily said.

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