ED questions YouTuber Elvish Yadav for second time in PMLA probe

Lucknow: YouTuber Siddharth Yadav alias Elvish Yadav appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday for the second time for questioning in a money laundering case linked to suspected use of snake venom as recreational drugs in parties he hosted and related financial transactions, official sources said.

The agency recorded the statement of the 26-year-old man at its zonal office located at Ashok Marg here for about seven hours. He was first questioned in July by the federal probe agency.

According to the sources, Yadav submitted documents related to his personal financial transactions and assets to the investigation officer of the case.

The central agency had registered a case in May and pressed charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of an FIR and chargesheet filed against him and linked persons by the Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) district police in Uttar Pradesh.

Rahul Yadav alias Rahul Fazilpuriya, a singer from Haryana who allegedly has links to Elvish Yadav, was also questioned by the ED in the said case.

Alleged generation of proceeds of crime and use of illicit funds for organising rave or recreational parties is under the scanner of the ED.

Elvish Yadav was arrested on March 17 by the Noida Police in connection with its probe into suspected use of snake venom as a recreational drug in parties that were allegedly hosted by him.

The controversial YouTuber, also the winner of reality show Bigg Boss OTT 2, was booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Noida police.

Elvish Yadav was among the six people named in an FIR lodged at Noida's Sector 49 Police Station on November 3 last year on a complaint from a representative of animal rights NGO People for Animals (PFA).

Five other accused, all snake charmers, were arrested in November and they were later given bail by a local court.

The five snake charmers were arrested from a banquet hall in Noida on November 3 last year and nine snakes, including five cobras, rescued from their possession, while 20 ml of suspected snake venom was also seized.

However, police had said Yadav was not present at the banquet hall and they were probing his role in the case that allegedly involved the use of snake venom as a recreational drug.

In April, Noida Police filed an over 1,200-page chargesheet in the case.

The charges included are snake trafficking, use of psychotropic substances and organising rave parties, police had said.