Doctors in India's Maharashtra have operated on a poisonous snake for nearly two hours and saved its life by taking out a plastic container out of its belly.

In Nashik's Bilholly village of the state, a female king cobra somehow ate up a plastic container and later fell into a deep well because she was finding it difficult to keep balance.

One of the villagers saw the snake and called up the local forest office. Later, the snake was rescued and taken to Nashik animal hospital for immediate treatment.

A team of three doctors led by Vivek Agarwal operated on the snake for two hours and removed the plastic container last Tuesday. Two rounds of anesthetics were used during the operation.

Now, though its condition is stable, doctors say they will not release the snake into the wilderness before a week because the stitches, around 10 of them, were yet to heal properly.

Doctor Agarwal endorsed the facts to our Kolkata correspondent.