The Noida Police have arrested Bigg Boss winner Elvish Yadav in relation to a rave party in Sector 49. Elvish Yadav was booked following allegations that he used snake venom at the rave party. At least five people have been taken into custody, The Mint reported.
Yadav is however absconding, Rahul, Narayan, Titunath, Ravinath, and Jaikaran – all residents of Moharband village in southeast Delhi’s Badarpur, are the others arrested.
Yadav is a YouTuber, influencer and Bigg Boss OTT2 winner. According to The Hindustan Times, Yadav has 7.51 million subscribers on YouTube and 15.6 million followers on Instagram. After his big OTT win, he even bought a house in Dubai worth Rs 8 crore.
HT further reported that Yadav recently received an extortion call asking to pay Rs 1 crore. A 25-year-old man from Gujarat was arrested for making these extortion calls.
During raids, the Noida Police found snake venom that was reportedly being used at the rave party. During the operation, five cobras, two sand boas, one python, and one rat snake—all classified as endangered species—were saved, Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Srivastava told agencies.
The complainants to Noida Police claimed to have proof that Yadav would frequently invite foreign girls to his “illegal” rave parties and had recorded videos in his Noida farmhouse featuring live snakes and snake venom.
Complainant Gaurav Gupta of People for Animals (PFA), headed by BJP lawmaker Maneka Gandhi, stated in the FIR that his organisation discovered Yadav used to throw parties and record videos featuring live snakes and snake venom.
“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 was quoted as saying by the PTI.
It is not common in India to use snake venom as a recreational drug—not only is it dangerous but it’s also fatal.
A 2021 study that was published in the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology described the recreational use of snake venom as a “potentially dangerous form of substance misuse” and suggested that it was a growing trend in India. According to the report, there may only be a few documented cases of snake venom abuse in India at this time. Those who abuse snake venom typically turn to it after experimenting with other psychotropic substances, a report in Abplive.com highlighted.
The Mint added that the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 regulates the use and possession of drugs, including those derived from snake venom or any other prohibited substance.
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