Five people have been arrested in Noida for supplying snakes and their venom for rave parties that were allegedly organised by social media sensation Elvish Yadav, the police said.
The five men have told police that these parties were organised at various farm houses in Delhi and its adjoining areas.
Elvish Yadav used the snakes to shoot videos for YouTube and Instagram, they said.
The snake venom was taken by people attending the rave parties that also hosted foreign nationals, it's alleged.
Officials said the First Information Report or FIR names six people, including Elvish Yadav. "Five of the six accused have been taken into custody, however, Elvish Yadav has not been arrested yet," they said.
Nine snakes, including five cobras, and snake venom was recovered from the accused, officials said, adding that the snakes have been handed to the Forest Department.
The arrests were made by the Noida police after it raided a rave party in Noida's Sector 49 late last evening following a complaint by an animal welfare NGO.They would catch snakes from different places in the region and extract their venom, which they allegedly sold to Elvish Yadav at a high price. "They used to collect a hefty sum of money for supplying the venom at parties," police said.
Elvish Yadav shot to fame after winning 'Bigg Boss OTT' Season-2 earlier this year.
