YouTuber Elvish Yadav arrested in snake venom case

Elvish Yadav thrives on courting controversy, but this time his notoriety may not reap the dividends he was hoping for. The Noida police have arrested the YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner in the November 2023 snake venom case. Elvish Yadav and five Delhi residents were accused of selling snake venom at rave parties in the National Capital Region.

The arrest came after a tip-off from People for Animals, an NGO run by BJP Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi. The police had arrested five people from the Chevron banquet hall in Noida Sector 51 in November 2023, but Yadav, who was named as one of the accused in the FIR, was not arrested then. The police had interrogated the Bigg Boss winner two times and collected related evidence, while he had protested his innocence.

Indian Express quotes Manish Kumar Mishra, additional DCP of Noida, as saying that Elvish Yadav would soon be produced before a court. According to the FIR that has been lodged, “We received information that a YouTuber named Elvish Yadav shoots videos with snake venom and live snakes in farmhouses in Noida and NCR along with other gang members/YouTubers and organises rave parties illegally. On such occasions, foreign girls are regularly called and snake venom and intoxicants are consumed.” India TV reports say that Yadav has been remanded to a 14 day police custody.

 

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In November, following a tip off, the police had recovered 20ml of snake venom, five cobras, one python, two two-headed snakes and a rat snake. They said that krait venom was found in samples sent to the forensic science laboratory in Jaipur. The FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and sections 9, 39, 48A, 49, 50 and 51 of The Wildlife (Protection) Act at the Sector 49 police station.

Elvish is no stranger to such controversies. A month ago, he called creator Kusha Kapila a sasti Kareena Kapoor, drawing criticism from several quarters. Sagar Thakur, another creator who goes by Maxtern claimed last week that he had been thrashed by Elvish, although sceptics say it could have been a staged fight to ensure more eyeballs for the upcoming season of Bigg Boss OTT. And then, a few days ago, reports floated that a penny stock that had been backed by Elvish Yadav a few years, has crashed by more than 95 per cent.

Elvish Yadav, also known as Siddhartha Yadav is a popular YouTuber from Gurugram. He gained recognition after winning the second season of Bigg Boss OTT and has appeared in music videos including Bad Guy, Systumm, Punja Daab, Rao Sahab, Hum Toh Deewane, Meter Khench Ke and Bolero.

Will the arrest bring more notoriety or popularity for the beleaguered Yadav is something only time can tell.