Popular YouTuber and social media influencer Elvish Yadav, who was booked for using snake venom at rave parties, has denied all allegations. In a video released on Instagram on Friday, the Bigg Boss OTT winner said he will fully cooperate with the police probe and is ready to “take responsibility” if found guilty.
Denying all charges, he said: “All these accusations of me being arrested for consumption or acquisition of substance are untrue. I am ready to cooperate with the Noida police and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. If I am found even 0.1% involved in this, I am ready to take responsibility.”
Meanwhile, BJP MP and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, whose NGO People for Animals (PFA) filed a complaint against Elvish, called for his immediate arrest. "This is a grade 1 crime, seven years in jail, a wildlife crime. King cobras die when their venom is taken out. Their venom is for digesting food. Without the venom, they can't eat anything and thus they die. There are very few cobras and pythons in the country. It is a crime to own them, catch them or use them," she told ANI. Maneka added that Elvish uses endangered species of snakes in his videos.
According to the complaint, People for Animals had contacted Elvish and asked him to organise a rave party and get snake venom. He gave them the name of Rahul (one of the arrested accused) who arrived at the venue with the venom.
Five accused have been arrested so far. Those held have been identified as Rahul (32), Teetunath (45), Jaikaran (50), Narayan (50) and Ravinath (45), all residents of Moharband village in southeast Delhi's Badarpur, police said.
UP Forest Minster Arun Kumar Saxena said that legal action will be taken against anyone who is found guilty, be it celebrity or common man. Noida police busted the rave party on Thursday night and recovered poisonous snakes including five cobras and snake venom. Snake venom is being used in rave parties as a psycho-active substance. The use of snake venom as a recreational drug is considered extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening.
Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Srivastava said five cobras, two sand boas, one python and one rat snake—all falling in the category of endangered species—were rescued. "The charges framed in the case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act are stringent which are non-bailable and can attract a jail term of seven years. The snake venom seized from the accused has been sent for a lab test to ascertain its quality," Srivastava said.
-with PTI inputs