YouTuber Elvish accused of procuring cobras and snake venom for rave party

Noida: In a joint operation performed by the Noida Police and forest department, nine venomous snakes, including five cobras, and snake venom has been seized during a raid at a banquet hall in Sector 51 of Noida, officials said on Friday.

Police said that these snakes and venom were meant to be supplied for a rave party and five associates of YouTuber Elvish Yadav have been arrested for organising it.

“A complaint was received from one Gaurav Gupta at sector 49 police station who alleged that he contacted Elvish Yadav on phone for organising a rave party and arranging snakes and their venom. Yadav assigned his associate Rahul Yadav who met Gupta along with snakes and snake charmers. They were caught red handed and on questioning he identified himself as an associate of Yadav,” said Ram Badan Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-Anti Narcotics) Noida.

According to police, the five arrested persons have been identified as Rahul Yadav, Titunath, Jayakaran, Narayan and Ravinath. Nine snakes have been recovered from the possession of the suspects as well along with 20 ml of snake venom in a bottle. These snakes include five cobras, one python, two two-headed snakes, and one rat snake. Police said that the arrested persons revealed that they use these snakes and snake venom at rave parties.

Complainant Gaurav Gupta, who is a member of People for Animals (PFA), said that they received information that Bigg Boss winner Elvish Yadav organises rave parties in which they regularly invite foreign women and consume snake venom and intoxicants.

“We saw videos of Yadav with live snakes in rave parties at farm houses in NCR. A member of PFA posing as anonymous person contacted Yadav and asked them to organise a party after which on November 2, we reached the banquet hall where it was decided to be held. We informed the forest department and the local police as well,” said Gupta.

The FIR is registered under sections 9 (Prohibition of hunting), 39 (hunted animals to be government property), 48(A) (restriction on transportation of wildlife), 49 (prohibition of dealings in animal articles),50 (empowers forest officer to arrest person involved in an offence against the Act), 51(violation of chapter VA of Act will lead to imprisonment which may extend to seven years) of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, in a video posted by Yadav on his Instagram page which has nearly 15.6 million followers, he assured police of cooperation. “The charges against me are false and baseless. I am not involved in any such illegal activities. I assure full cooperation to police and demand a fair probe,” Yadav said.

Elvish Yadav is a popular face and winner of Big Boss OTT 2023.