The Indian press has reported two recent cases of reptiles being used to intimidate passers-by into giving up their money and valuables.

Police say they know of other cases and have warned citizens to stay clear of snake charmers and people carrying serpents.

The BBC's India correspondent, Daniel Lak, says hardly a day passes in Delhi without newspaper reports of daring daylight robberies by armed men.

Beware

But police say robbers with snakes pose a new threat to people in the capital.

Snake charmers are a fairly common sight in Delhi. Usually they are just people who make their snakes sway to music in return for a little pocket change from tourists. There are also Hindu holy men who carry snakes.

But now some snake handlers have turned to using their pets for illegal purposes.

Sssstick 'em up!

In one case a man leaving a Delhi guesthouse early in the morning was accosted by two men, one armed with a python.

The creature was thrust in the victim's face and its coils were placed around his neck.

Money was demanded and the two men with the snake escaped with a small amount of cash.

In another incident a businessman was ambushed by a snake charmer who said a large amount of money would bring his victim luck if he put it into the snake's mouth.

When the businessman complied the snake charmer started to feed the note to his python.

Bystanders intervened, rescuing the note before it was swallowed.