Celebrity YouTuber and Big Boss champion Elvish Yadav is currently enmeshed in a growing scandal. He has been booked by the Noida Police for allegedly supplying snake venom at rave parties after a sting operation. Yadav has dismissed the allegations against him as “false”.
Five more people have been held by the cops and sent to a judicial custody for four days. The non-bailable offence can invite a 7-year jail term.
The police was alerted after Gaurav Gupta, an Animal Welfare Officer at People for Animals NGO, an organisation connected to BJP lawmaker Maneka Gandhi, made a complaint under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. Noida Deputy Commissioner of Police Ram Badan Singh informed the press that Gupta informed the cops that he contacted the YouTuber as a part of a sting operation to purchase snake venom for a rave party at Noida’s Sector 51 and was asked by the YouTuber to get in touch with a man named Rahul Yadav to complete the deal. Nine snakes, including five cobras, one python, two two-headed snakes and one rat snake, were found in the possession of the accused, Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Srivastava said. Noida DCP Ram Baden Singh added that 20 ml snake venom was also obtained.
A case was launched for an alleged criminal conspiracy. According to the police, the accused attended the party in a banquet facility where snake venom was allegedly available.
Elvish Yadav was briefly taken into custody by the Gautam Buddha Nagar police on Friday, November 3.
The YouTuber, however, angrily refuted the charges, calling them baseless and devoid of supporting documentation. Elvish wrote a statement on his platform on Sunday, targeting people he feels are trying to discredit him and are jealous of him.
According to media reports, snake venom is widely used for recreational purposes and is part of a massive illegal trade sector valued at millions of dollars. In November 2022, a container containing 2.14 kilograms of snake venom—worth an estimated Rs 17 crore on the international market—was seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) stationed in the Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has weighed-in, clarifying that his government has no control over the ongoing inquiry into the notable case concerning the supply of snake venom.
The YouTuber Flying Beast, also known as Gaurav Taneja, has stated that he supports Elvish Yadav amidst the current issue over snake venom He wrote from his official X(Formerly Twitter), “FIR under Sec 154 CrPC only means someone has registered a fact (as per him) against the suspect, and the investigating officer will try to collect evidence. People use this tool all the time to damage the image of their opponents.#ElvishYadav.”
In a vlog video, Elvish Yadav said that Maneka Gandhi was damaging his reputation and that the truth would eventually surface.
