YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner Elvish Yadav has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the snake venom case. The YouTuber will be questioned by the central agency on July 23. Earlier, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the snake venom incident stating a significant amount of money was involved in the racket.
As reported by Hindustan Times, Elvish was asked to appear before ED on July 8. However, he failed to appear before the agency citing his foreign tour. Earlier this week, Elvish’s close aide and Haryana singer Rahul Yadav, popularly known as Fazilpuriya, was questioned at the ED Lucknow office. He was asked about the use of a snake in one of his music videos.
In March this year, Elvish Yadav was arrested by Noida Police in a snake poisoning case. The case was lodged under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and for criminal conspiracy under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, they said. A day after his arrest, NDTV claimed Elvish had admitted to his crimes. However, no official statement was released.
A week later, Yadav was granted bail, on a 50,000 bail bond. Talking about the same, his lawyer Prashant Rathi told the media, “Our arguments in this case was that he was falsely accused and no substance was obtained from him or his friends that violated the NDPS act. The court has granted bail to him (Elvish Yadav) as well as his two friends on two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.”
Later, Elvish also recalled the time he spent in jail and called it a “very bad phase of his life”. “The one week that went by, no doubt, was a very bad phase of life. What to talk about the time I was inside (jail). Let’s start a new chapter on a positive note. All those who supported me didn’t support me, talked badly or well about me, thanks to all. I can only thank everyone. I am back to my work,” he said in one of his vlogs.
