The Gautam Buddh Nagar police Friday arrested five people in connection with allegedly running an organised group that sells snake venom at rave parties in the NCR. Apart from the arrested men, another name figured in the FIR — reality TV show Bigg Boss OTT winner and YouTuber Elvish Yadav.
Police said the arrest was made from Chevron banquet hall in Noida’s Sector 51 following a tip-off from People for Animals (PFA), an organisation that works for animal rights and is run by Sultanpur Lok Sabha BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.
The accused Rahul, Teetunath, Jaikaran, Narayan, and Ravinath —_are residents of Molarband village in Delhi’s Badarpur. Police said 20 ml of snake venom, five cobras, a python, 2 two-headed snakes, and a rat snake were recovered from the accused.
Elvish, meanwhile, claimed he was innocent. In a 58-second video on X, he said, “… All allegations made against me are completely baseless… (and) fake… I am ready to cooperate with UP Police… I request police, administration, and UP CM Yogi Adityanath that if they find even 0.1% of my involvement in this, I’m ready to accept all charges…”
Police said they were verifying details regarding allegations made against Yadav. “If found true, we will form a team to arrest Elvish Yadav or issue summons asking him to surrender. We have so far not found any criminal history of the accused from whose possession snakes were recovered,” said DCP Ram Badan Singh.
On her part, Gandhi said her organisation has had an eye on Yadav for a long time. “He was using snakes frequently in his photos and videos. These pythons and cobras are endangered species. You must understand that cobras, when they lose their venom, die… if somebody uses these snakes, there is a punishment of seven years,” she told reporters.
On her part, Gandhi said her organisation has had an eye on Yadav for a long time. “He was using snakes frequently in his photos and videos. These pythons and cobras are endangered species. You must understand that cobras, when they lose their venom, die… if somebody uses these snakes, there is a punishment of seven years,” she told reporters.
The FIR, filed on the complaint of Gaurav Gupta, the animal welfare officer, stated: “We received information that a YouTuber named Elvish Yadav shoots videos with snake venom and live snakes in farmhouses in Noida and NCR along with other gang members/YouTubers and organises rave parties illegally.