NEW DELHI: Indian YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT winner Elvish Yadav has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the suspected use of snake venom as a recreational drug at a party.
Elvish Yadav, an Indian YouTuber and singer, became a household name after winning the ‘Big Boss OTT 2’ reality show hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, in 2023.
A case under the Wildlife Act was registered against him in Noida and five others for arranging snake venom for use as a recreational drug at rave parties last year. He has now been sent to a 14-day judicial custody.
The police had raided a banquet hall on November 3 last year in sector 51 of Noida and arrested five people including four snake charmers and recovered nine snakes and poison.
Besides, rave parties, it was alleged, snakes were also used by Elvish Yadav for video shoots. The popular YouTuber has several videos featuring snakes on his channel.
After Yadav’s such videos emerged, animal rights group PFA (People For Animals) headed by BJP leader Maneka Gandhi called him up, hiding its name and identity. They asked him to provide snakes and their venom.
The 26-year-old allegedly gave the number of one Rahul who asked them to come to the sector 51 banquet. The PFA team found four snake charmers – Jaikaran, Titunath, Narayan and Ravinath – there with nine snakes, including five cobras and 20 ml of snake poison.
A team of Noida Police and Forest Department was called in soon after and everyone was arrested.
Meanwhile, Elvish Yadav has refuted the charges of involvement in the case. “Baseless, fake and not even 1 per cent true,” he said.
Police had earlier said that he was not presented at the party hall and they were probing his role in the whole case.
Maneka Gandhi, however, accused Yadav of involvement in illegally selling snake venom and sought his immediate arrest. “He (Elvish Yadav) has escaped for now but his arrest should definitely take place,” Ms Gandhi had told reporters.
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