NEW DELHI: The Noida Police on Sunday arrested Youtuber Elvish Yadav in its ongoing probe into the suspected use of snake venom as a recreational drug.
Yadav, a winner of reality show Bigg Boss OTT, was later produced before a local court that sent him to 15-day judicial custody. The police had booked Yadav and 5 others on November 3, last year. The five other accused were arrested and are currently out on bail.
The case was lodged on the complaint of an official of the animal rights group "People For Animals", an organisation run by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.
A complaint was received from Gaurav Gupta of PFA against 6 people, including Yadav, for partying at the banquet hall where snake venom was made available, said police.
The police registered an FIR under various sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and criminal conspiracy at sector 49 police stations in Noida.
Gupta, in his complaint, had claimed he had contacted Yadav for a rave party and to arrange snakes. A team of forest officers and police had conducted a raid and five people -- Rahul (32), Teetunath (45), Jaikaran (50), Narayan (50) and Ravinath (45), all residents of Moharband village -- were arrested and 20 ml of some liquid substance, possibly snake venom, was seized.