Bigg Boss OTT2 winner Elvish Yadav on November 3 denied hosting a rave party at his farmhouse in Noida and possessing any substance. This is a day after reports said the YouTuber and five of his associates were booked for allegedly hosting a rave party where nine snakes and snake venom were also found on November 2.
"When I woke up in the morning, I saw reports that I have been arrested, and I was caught with intoxicating substances. All these reports, and charges against me are fake. There isn't even 1% truth to them," he said in a video on social media. He said he was ready to cooperate with the UP police in the investigation, and asserted that he will take responsibility even if he is found to have 0.1% involvement in the case.
"Till you don't have concrete evidence about me being arrested, please don't ruin my image. I have no involvement in this case," the influencer urged the media.
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.
(Section 120B of IPC deals with criminal conspiracy while Section 9 of the Wildlife Act prohibits hunting, Section 49 restricts purchase of a captive animal, Section 50 gives authorities the power to search and seize and Section 51 lays out the punishment for violation of licence granted under Wildlife Protection Act.)
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.
Who is Elvish Yadav?
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 â‚ą 1 crore. A 25-year-old man from Gujarat was arrested later for making the calls.
(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)
First Published:Â Nov 3, 2023 1:46 PM IST
