YouTuber Elvish Yadav booked for organising rave parties with snake venom

Guwahati, Nov 3: The police in Noida have apprehended five individuals for providing snakes and their venom at gatherings referred to as rave parties, purportedly orchestrated by popular social media figure Elvish Yadav.

According to the arrested individuals, these events took place at different farmhouses in Delhi and its vicinity, where Elvish Yadav employed the snakes for creating content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

It is claimed that attendees, including foreign nationals, consumed the snake venom during these gatherings.

As per reports, Yadav, a popular YouTuber and social media influencer, refuted the charges and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the police in the investigation.

Nine snakes, including cobras, were also rescued from the possession of those arrested, who had landed at a banquet hall in Sector 51 on Thursday for a party, which was a trap laid by animal rights group People for Animals (PFA).

An FIR was lodged under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and for criminal conspiracy following a complaint by PFA, run by BJP parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi, against six people, including Yadav, for partying at the banquet hall where snake venom was made available.

PFA claimed that Yadav, who won the second season of the OTT version of reality show Bigg Boss this year, along with his associates illegally organised rave parties and shot videos with snakes and snake venom in Noida and other parts of NCR.

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.