Elvish Yadav denies hosting a rave party, possessing snake venom; Maneka Gandhi calls for immediate arrest

BJP MP and founder of People for Animals (PFA) Maneka Gandhi, meanwhile, said in a statement to the media that Yadav should be arrested immediately. “This is a grade-I crime - that means seven years in jail...PFA laid a trap and caught these people. He uses endangered species of snakes in his videos. Later, we got to know that he sells snake venom in Noida and Gurugram....," she said.

Her remark comes as her NGO People for Animals (PFA) tipped the police to catch the agents who brought snakes and venom to the party in Noida Sector 51. The five agents and Yadav have been booked by the Noida Police, reports said.

They were named in a first information report (FIR) after 20ml of prohibited snake venom, and nine venomous snakes were recovered from their possession, a Hindustan Times report claimed. As per the FIR cited by HT, the police recovered five cobras, one python and a two headed snake along with one rat snake at the social media influencer's party venue.

The complainants, associated with Gandhi’s NGO PFA, reportedly told the police that they had information about the Bigg Boss OTT winner organising rave parties at his Noida farmhouse where snake venom and live snakes would be present, HT reported.

A person from the NGO approached Yadav to ask how to get cobra venom, following which the YouTuber shared the contact details of his agent. The agent then agreed to provide snakes and venom and reached the party venue. The NGO then informed the police that they had reached the spot and caught hold of the five agents, HT reported, adding that they were the ones who allegedly named Yadav.

The FIR has been filed under Sections 9,39,49,50 and 51 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Section 120B of Indian Penal Code.

Delhi Women Commission chief Swati Maliwal also reacted to the development and posted a photo of Elvish Yadav with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. "The CM of Haryana promotes this man from the platform. On one hand, talents like @SakshiMalik, @BajrangPunia are beaten on the streets and the Haryana government promotes such people. In its videos you will find obscene comments on girls and abusive language. Leaders can do anything for votes…," she wrote on microblogging platform X.

Elvish Yadav is a popular content creator on YouTube who rose to fame after winning the reality show Bigg Boss OTT 2 hosted by Salman Khan. He began his career in YouTube in 2016 where he has 13.2 million subscribers and over 1.16 billion views on his primary channel.

Recently, Yadav reportedly got an extortion call for ₹ 1 crore. A 25-year-old man from Gujarat was arrested later for making the calls.