YouTuber Elvish Yadav among 6 booked for supplying snake venom opioids at party

Six people, including YouTuber Elvish Yadav, were booked on Thursday under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Section 120A (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly providing snake venom for a party in Noida’s Sector 51, senior police officers said on Friday.

While five of those named in the FIR were arrested, Yadav is yet to be arrested, said senior officers.

When asked whether Yadav is absconding, Rambadan Singh, deputy commissioner of police, Noida, said, “The role of Elvish Yadav in this case is a matter of investigation. Police teams will be deployed to arrest him only if evidence implicating him in this matter is found. He is not absconding at the moment.”

In a post on his official handle on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Yadav refuted all allegations and said, “I assure you that I am not involved in these activities and all these allegations are false. I urge the UP Police, authorities, including Honourable Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, that even if 0.01 percent of my involvement is found, I am ready to take responsibility. I am ready to cooperate with the UP Police. I request media not to defame me,” he said.

The use of snake venom as a recreational drug is not common in India and is considered extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening, said experts.

“Snake venom is composed of highly toxic chemicals which is sometimes used for recreational purposes to achieve a trance (euphoric state) by people. But this is illegal. If one becomes addicted, it can lead to severe side effects including having tantrums, anxiety and depression. An overdose can lead to neurological complications and even death,” said Dr DK Gupta, chairman of Felix Hospital in Noida.

Dr Amit Kumar, public health expert at Gautam Budh Nagar health department, added that removing venom from snakes is a form of torture on the serpent.

“Once venom is removed, they can die. Moreover, use of snake venom for recreational purposes is injurious to health and can even lead to death,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi, whose NGO People For Animals (PFA) filed the police complaint in the matter, told reporters in Delhi on Friday, “PFA laid a trap to arrest these suspects. We found out that they sell snake venom. This is a grade 1 crime. There are very few cobras and pythons in the country. It is a crime to own them, catch them or use them.”

Police said nine snakes -- five cobras, one python, two sand snakes and one rat snake -- and a small 20ml tube of suspected snake venom were recovered by a joint team of the police and the Gautam Budh Nagar district forest department during a search at a banquet hall in Sector 51 on Thursday evening.

“On the basis of a complaint filed by an animal welfare activist associated with NGO People For Animals (PFA) at Sector 49 police station, an FIR was registered against six people, including YouTuber Elvish Yadav, for hosting the party and providing attendees with snake venom for recreational purposes,” said DCP Singh.

“The five people arrested are Rahul Chauhan (32), Teetunath (45) and Narayan (50), both sons of Harinath, and Ravinath (45) son of Chandinath, all residents of Moharband village in south-east Delhi’s Badarpur. Nine snakes have been recovered from them, besides a small tube with 20ml of liquid, which is suspected to be snake venom. The tube has been sent to forensics for further investigation,” he said.

Saurabh Gupta, one of the members of the PFA team that tipped off police, was present during the search. He said, “Whether Yadav is involved in the crime or not is a matter of investigation. His name has been given to the police in the written complaint because we had received information that Yadav is involved in using snake venom for recreational purposes at parties.”

He further said, “We received videos of the YouTuber where he was seen posing with snakes. Following this, PFA began an investigation five months ago, to nab the person supplying these serpents, and this led us to arrested suspect Rahul.”

In his complaint to police, PFA member Gaurav Gupta said, “We received information that YouTuber Elvish Yadav shoots videos with snakes... and consume snake venom and intoxicants. On this information, we contacted Yadav and asked him to organise a rave party. The person, who claimed to be Yadav, gave us the contact of Rahul and said “if you take my name, he will organise the party for you”. We did so, and Rahul agreed to organise the party at a banquet hall in Sector 51 Noida on the evening of November 2.”

The complainant further said, “We informed the district forest officer of this. As soon as all suspects reached the venue, we expressed our desire to see the snakes. They showed us the snakes and police immediately arrested the five people present at the venue.”

The suspects have been booked under sections 9 (prohibition on hunting), 39 (hunted animals to be government property) 48(A) (restriction on transportation of wildlife) , 49 (prohibition of dealings in animal articles),50 (person involved in an offence against the Act), 51(violation of chapter VA of Act) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The charges framed in the case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act are stringent and non-bailable and can attract a jail term of seven years,” said Singh.

The snakes were taken into custody by the forest department. “The snakes recovered from possession of the suspects are protected under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. They are in the custody of the forest department,” said PK Srivastava, district forest officer, Noida.