Kochi: A dead snake was found on a seat of a Vande Bharat Express travelling from Ernakulam to Bengaluru, leading railway authorities to announce a detailed investigation into the incident.

The snake was found on a seat in the C-6 coach before the train departed from Ernakulam on Friday afternoon. Railway cleaning staff removed the reptile before the train left the station.

The incident happened around 2:30 pm when Vinu Varghese, who works for an insurance company in Ernakulam, boarded the train with his wife and two-year-old child to travel to Coimbatore.

“I saw the snake lying on the adjacent seat when I sat down. I was frightened. Only later did I realise that it was dead. I think it died because something heavy had been placed on it. Someone who was sitting in another seat before me had also seen it, but thought it was a toy,” Varghese said.

He lodged a complaint through RailMadad, the railway portal for passenger grievances, following which railway staff arrived and removed the snake.

“We are paying so much for the journey. It is clear that it was not brought in from outside by someone.... When I complained, railway staff came and apologised,” Varghese said.

Railway authorities said the train had arrived from Bengaluru to Ernakulam and that its cleaning had already been completed before the incident. Cleaning staff assigned to the Vande Bharat are responsible for cleaning the seats and other areas of the coaches.

The workers have maintained that they did not see any snake during the cleaning process. Since the cleaning staff have firmly stated that the reptile was not spotted while the train was being cleaned, railway authorities said a detailed investigation would be conducted and a report submitted.