“Six individuals, including YouTuber Elvish Yadav, were caught distributing snake venom at a party in Noida, leading to legal action.”
Senior police authorities announced on Friday that six persons, including YouTuber Elvish Yadav, were reportedly caught distributing snake venom for a party in Noida’s Sector 51 on Thursday. They were booked under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Section 120A (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Senior authorities stated that although five individuals included in the FIR were taken into custody, Yadav has not been taken into custody.
The deputy commissioner of police in Noida, Rambadan Singh, responded, “The role of Elvish Yadav in this case is a matter of investigation,” when asked if Yadav was absconding. Only if evidence linking him to this case is discovered would police teams be dispatched to make an arrest. He is not running away right now.
On Friday, Yadav denied all accusations in a message on his official X (formerly Twitter) page. He said, “I assure you that I am not involved in these activities and all these allegations are false.” I beg the UP Police and authorities, namely Honourable Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, to understand that I am willing to accept responsibility even in the unlikely event that even a trace of my involvement is discovered. I’m prepared to assist the UP Police. He remarked, “I beg the media not to disparage me.”
As per specialists, the use of snake venom as a recreational drug is uncommon in India and is deemed highly hazardous, possibly even fatal.
“Highly poisonous compounds make up snake venom, which is occasionally taken recreationally by people to induce a trance or other euphoric condition. However, this is against the law. Tantrums, anxiety, and sadness are just a few of the serious negative effects that can arise from addiction. Neurological problems and even mortality might result from an overdose, according to Dr. DK Gupta, head of Felix Hospital in Noida.
In addition, Dr. Amit Kumar, a public health specialist at the Gautam Budh Nagar health department, stated that taking a snake’s venom out is torturing the animal.
When the venom is removed, they may pass away. Furthermore, using snake venom recreationally is dangerous to one’s health and may even be fatal, the speaker stated.
Parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose organization People For Animals (PFA) lodged the police complaint in this case, told reporters in Delhi on Friday that PFA set up a trap to apprehend these individuals. We learned that they are vendors of snake venom. A grade 1 crime is this one. Cobras and pythons are quite rare in the nation. It is illegal to possess, capture, or utilize them.
During a search at a banquet hall in Sector 51 on Thursday evening, a joint team of the police and the Gautam Budh Nagar district forest department found nine snakes—five cobras, one python, two sand snakes, and one rat snake—as well as a small 20ml tube of suspected snake venom.
An FIR was filed against six individuals, including YouTuber Elvish Yadav, for hosting the party and giving guests snake venom for recreational purposes, according to DCP Singh. The complaint was made at the Sector 49 police station by an animal welfare activist connected to the NGO People For Animals (PFA).
Rahul Chauhan (32), Teetunath (45), and Narayan (50), who are all inhabitants of Moharband village in Badarpur, south-east Delhi, and Ravinath (45), son of Chandinath, are the five individuals who were taken into custody. Apart from a tiny tube containing 20 milliliters of liquid that may contain snake venom, nine snakes have been found inside of them. For additional investigation, the tube has been transferred to forensics,” he stated.
During the search, Saurabh Gupta was one of the PFA team members who alerted the police. “An investigation is necessary to determine whether or not Yadav is connected to the crime,” he stated. We have provided the police with his identity in the formal complaint since we have learned that Yadav partakes in the recreational usage of snake venom at parties.
“We received videos of the YouTuber where he was seen posing with snakes,” the speaker continued. To find the individual selling these serpents, PFA launched an investigation five months ago, and as a result, suspect Rahul was taken into custody.
PFA member Gaurav Gupta filed a police report stating, “We have learned that YouTuber Elvish Yadav films videos featuring snakes and consumes both intoxicants and snake venom.” We got in touch with Yadav and requested him to plan a rave party based on this information. The individual, posing as Yadav, offered us Rahul’s contact information and promised to arrange the celebration for us if we used my name. After we did, Rahul consented to plan the celebration for November 2 in the evening at a banquet venue in Sector 51 Noida.
Sections 9 (hunting prohibition), 39 (hunted animals to be government property), 48(A) (restriction on wildlife transportation), 49 (prohibition of dealings in animal articles), 50 (person involved in an offense against the Act), 51 (violation of chapter VA of Act), and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code have all been applied to the suspects.
Singh stated, “The charges framed in the case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act are severe, non-bailable, and can result in a seven-year jail sentence.”
The Department of Forests took control of the snakes. Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 protects the snakes that were found in the suspects’ possession. The forest department is in charge of them, according to PK Srivastava, the Noida district forest officer.