NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maneka Gandhi called for the arrest of Big Boss OTT S2 winner Elvish Yadav’s arrest after a video of him holding and playing with a snake surfaced on social media on Friday.
Gandhi’s call for his arrest had been on the pretext of a complaint that had been filed by Gaurav Gupta, an Animal Welfare Officer at the People For Animal (PFA) organisation, against Yadav and other content creators of shooting videos with snakes and venom at farmhouses in Noida.
“Now, he is on the run, and his arrest is absolutely necessary. The police were present at the scene, but both the police and the forest department often show minimal initiative when it comes to wildlife matters,” Gandhi had said.
Gandhi accused the Big Boss winner of supplying partygoers, both residents and international denizens, with snake venom procured from exotic reptiles, stating that procuring snake venom or farming the venom in itself is an infringement of the Wildlife Protection Act that labels this action under animal cruelty.
“All snakes, pythons, and cobras fall under endangered species, and their sale or purchase is regarded as a very heinous crime and can result in a 7-year prison sentence according to Schedule 1 of the Animal Act. Elvish used to supply them such inebriating substances, including snake venom, at parties in Gurgaon and Noida,” Gandhi said.
Following this, the BJP leader claimed to The New Indian that the winner had been embroiled in the business for over a year of attaining acclaim. She added that the visual evidence that Gupta had, initially, submitted to the Noida police had been presented by her organisation to the authorities.
“We had presented the video evidence of the Elvish’s involvement in the selling of such illicit substances to the authorities after following his activities for over a year,” she said. She also told the The New Indian that her team had also seen Yadav and other such influencers exchanging snake venom for cash, however, she could not furnish details regarding such transactions. “He has been selling these drugs for a very long time but all of these used to happen in person and through cash. We don’t have any detail regarding the amount,” Gandhi added.
The BJP-led Haryana government’s blue eyed boy has now been summoned by the Noida Police in relation with the case.