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Snake venom case: YouTuber Elvish Yadav held, sent to judicial custody
“We have found substantial evidence against Elvish Yadav and his involvement in supplying snake venom," Noida Police said.
Noida Police arrested YouTuber Elvish Yadav on Sunday in connection with a probe into the suspected use of snake venom as a recreational drug at a party, officials aware of the matter said. Yadav has been sent to 14-day judicial custody, they added.
“We have found substantial evidence against Yadav and his involvement in supplying snake venom. After appearing before the court on Sunday, Yadav was sent to 14-day judicial custody,” said Noida additional deputy commissioner of police Manish Kumar Mishra.
“Yadav was called in for questioning at Sector 20 police station on Sunday,” he added.
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Police also added sections 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substances) and 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals) of the Indian Penal Code and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the first information report (FIR).
On November 3 last year, Yadav and five others were booked under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly providing snake venom to a party in Noida’s Sector 51. The development took place after an animal welfare activist, Gaurav Gupta, who is associated with an NGO, People For Animals, approached Sector 49 police station.
An officer on condition of anonymity said, “Noida Police was planning to summon Yadav for the past one week, but was delayed due to a scheduled programme of Uttar Pradesh chief minister in Noida on Saturday. However, the programme was cancelled, and Yadav was called in the next morning.”
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Earlier, police had questioned Yadav at Sector 20 police station on November 8 last year.
Noida assistant commissioner of police Praveen Kumar Singh said, “Yadav’s involvement in the party at Sector 51 was established during the investigation.”
The five others, who were arrested and are now out on bail, were identified as Rahul (32), Teetunath (45), Jaikaran (50), Narayan (50) and Ravinath (45), all residents of Moharband village in southeast Delhi’s Badarpur.
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“Nine snakes — five cobras, one python, two sand snakes and one rat snake — protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and a 20ml tube of suspected snake venom were recovered from the possession of the five suspects,” said police.
Dr Nikhil Varshney of the veterinary department said, “Medical examination of the snakes revealed that the venom glands of nine snakes and the fangs of eight snakes were missing. The snakes were returned to the forest department.”
Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Shrivastava said, “After getting an order from the court, we released the snakes in Surajpur wetland. The medical report said that the snakes were fit to be released in the forest.”
