ED summons Youtuber Elvish Yadav in snake venom case under PMLA
Earlier, the ED registered a case under the PMLA in the snake venom incident, considering thesignificant amount of money involved in the racket in May.
Youtuber Elvish Yadav has been asked to appear before the Lucknow unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 for questioning in connection with the money laundering case related to the snake venom-rave party case registered against him by Gautam Buddh Nagar police, said senior ED officials on Tuesday.
Earlier, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the snake venom incident, considering the significant amount of money involved in the racket in May this year. Yadav was arrested on March 17 and sent to 14-day judicial custody. However, he was granted bail by a local court five days later.
A senior ED official confirmed that the agency’s Lucknow unit has summoned Elvish Yadav on July 23 after he expressed his inability to appear before the ED on July 8, citing his foreign tour. The official said Yadav has been given relaxation and allowed to turn up later.
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He added that Elvish Yadav’s close associate and Haryana singer Rahul Yadav, popularly known as Fazilpuriya, was questioned for multiple hours at the ED Lucknow office on Monday. Fazilpuriya was questioned about the use of a snake in one of his popular songs. Besides, Elvish Yadav’s other aides Ishwar Yadav and Vinay Yadav were questioned in the matter in the past.
On April 6, the Gautam Buddh Nagar police filed a 1,200-page chargesheet under the Wildlife Conservation Act against Yadav and seven others in connection with the case, almost six months after the FIR was registered. The chargesheet describes how snakes were smuggled and how their venom was used at the parties.
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While Yadav had refuted the charges against him, calling them “baseless and fake,” police later dropped charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against him, stating that it was a “mistake” on their side.