An FIR was registered against YouTuber Elvish Yadav and five others for allegedly supplying snake venom to a party in Noida.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
The Noida police on Wednesday said they have questioned YouTuber Elvish Yadav in connection with his alleged involvement in supplying snake venom at rave parties.
The winner of Bigg Boss OTT season 2, Mr. Yadav appeared before the police for questioning on Tuesday night.
A police officer said the interrogation lasted for around an hour and a half and he was questioned at length regarding his involvement in the case.
“We asked him why he posed with snakes and how those snakes were procured. We interrogated him regarding rave parties as well,” the officer said.
Mr. Yadav is among the six persons booked in the case. The police said they have sought from the court the custody of the other five accused for questioning.
The case was registered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act on November 4 following a sting operation, which allegedly unearthed the accused’s involvement in supplying snake venom at rave parties.
The sting operation was conducted by officials of the Forest Department and an animal welfare officer of the People for Animals, an NGO run by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.
According to the police, NGO’s animal welfare officer Gaurav Gupta had told them that he had contacted the YouTuber for purchasing snake venom.
Mr. Yadav had allegedly put him in touch with the other five persons.
The five persons were arrested with 20 ml of snake venom following the sting operation, after which the TouTuber was also booked in the case. Nine snakes were also rescued by the police.
‘Venom glands missing’
The Veterinary Department has found that venom glands were missing in all nine snakes.
Veterinary officer Dr. Nikhil Varshney on Wednesday said, “In eight of the snakes, teeth were also missing. The inquiry report has been submitted to the Forest Department for further action,” he said.
Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Srivastava confirmed that his department has received the inquiry report. He said the snakes have been released in the Surajpur Wetland area.
Siddharth Kumar Singh, director at the Snake Awareness Association, told The Hindu that if venom is extracted from a snake, it doesn’t die. “Venom is a mix of enzymes and proteins. Once extracted, snakes create it after 10-15 days,” he said.
Regarding the use of snake venom as a narcotic, Mr. Singh said, according to experts, it is converted into a powder. It is then mixed with a liquid opioid and then injected in the tongue. It is taken in small quantity, not more than one milligram at one time, which causes one to hallucinate.
He said snake venom is also used in medicines. Just 1 mg of cobra venom fetches from ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 in the pharmaceutical market, he said.