Indian Rock Python
The professor captured the 24kg snake with his bare hands and later handed over the reptile to forest department officials - Representational image Reuters

A video of a botany professor at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Government Degree College in Allahabad, India capturing a 12-foot python with his bare hands has gone viral.

According to local media reports, professor NB Singh was discussing a project with a faculty member on Wednesday, 6 December, when he received a call from a student about the reptile that had entered the college campus.

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He immediately rushed to where the snake had been spotted and caught the 24kg reptile, later handing it over to forest department officials.

"As I was busy with the visiting professor, I was initially reluctant but when the thought came to my mind that students might kill the python, I rushed to the spot and caught hold of the 24kg reptile," Singh was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Singh, who has caught over a dozen snakes till date, told news channel News18, "The python was hostile, and it took a lot of effort to capture it."

He says his aim behind catching the reptile was to inform people that pythons are not dangerous unless provoked.

Singh catches snakes to help relocate them to a safer place.

The entire video of the professor handling the snake has been recorded and uploaded on YouTube. You can watch it here: