Deccan Chronicle photojournalist wins top prize for snake rescue photo

Deccan Chronicle photojournalist K. Durga Rao won first prize in the Best News Photo Competition organised by the Telangana State Photo Journalists Association for his image titled 'Snake lift'. The photograph shows residents and a Friends of Snakes Society rescuer catching an eight-foot snake that had taken shelter under a car at an apartment complex in Nizampet. It was published in Deccan Chronicle on June 30.

The competition received 306 entries from 102 photojournalists across all 33 districts of Telangana. Rao received a cash prize of Rs 10,000 along with the top honour. Rescuer Kiran Varanasi, a software employee and resident of Akruthi Venkatadri Towers, initially approached the snake with caution due to its size but captured it safely. The snake was later released into the wild. Varanasi noted that he had already caught two or three snakes at other locations earlier that day.