BJP's Maneka Gandhi calls for Elvish Yadav’s arrest over snakes seized at Noida rave party

After a video of social media influencer Elvish Yadav holding and playing with a snake surfaced on the internet, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Maneka Gandhi called for his arrest.

The matter came to the fore after Gaurav Gupta, an Animal Welfare Officer at the People For Animal (PFA) organisation, registered a complaint with Noida Police accusing Elvish and other content creators of shooting videos with snakes and venom at farmhouses in Noida.

BJP MP and founder of People for Animals (PFA), Maneka Gandhi said, "He should be arrested immediately. This is a grade-I crime - that means seven years in jail. PFA laid a trap and caught these people. He uses endangered species of snakes in his videos. Later we got to know that he sells snake venom in Noida and Gurugram."

“If venom is removed from these snakes, they don't survive - that's how nature has created them,” she elaborated.

Hitting out at the BJP MP, Yadav took to X, and wrote, “Shocked To See Such People Sitting On Such Posts. The kind of allegations that Madam (Maneka Gandhi) has made, she should be prepared with an apology on that account.” 

UP Police books Elvish Yadav

Noida Police busted a rave party in the city and arrested five people for allegedly using snake venom to intoxicate youths. Yadav has also been named in the case filed by the cops. Nine snakes, including five cobras, and snake venom were recovered during the raids, the police said. 

Yadav, meanwhile, denied the allegations levelled against him, and said all were "fake". In a video message shared on Instagram and X, he said, "If even 0.1 per cent truth about my involvement in the case is found, I will take full responsibility for it". He added that he was ready to cooperate with the police, and urged the media to "not ruin his reputation" without proof.