Noida (UP): Elvish Yadav, the winner of Bigg Boss OTT, who has often found himself mired in controversies, was arrested in connection with the snake venom-rave party incident after an interrogation by Noida Police, media reports said.

He has been remanded to a 14-day judicial custody, NDTV reported.

A case has been filed against Yadav and five others under the Wildlife Act in Noida for organising snake venom as a recreational substance at rave gatherings last year, the report said.

Last November, police raided a banquet hall in sector 51 of Noida, arresting five people, including four snake charmers, and seizing nine snakes along with poison.

Apart from allegations of snake involvement in rave parties, it is claimed that Yadav also used snakes in his video shoots. The renowned YouTuber has numerous videos featuring snakes on his channel.

According to the NDTV report, animal rights organisation People For Animal (PFA) took note of the YouTuber’s videos with snakes and decided to dig deeper.

PFA, which is headed by BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, called him up without revealing its identity and asked him to provide snakes and snake venom.

Yadav, 26, allegedly provided the contact information of a person named Rahul, who invited them to the banquet in sector 51.

Upon arrival, the PFA team found four snake charmers - Jaikaran, Titunath, Narayan, and Ravinath - present, along with nine snakes, including five cobras, and 20 ml of snake poison. The PFA then called a joint team comprising Noida Police and the Forest Department, leading to the arrest of all the people involved.

Yadav, who was questioned earlier, too, in connection with the matter has rubbished the charges of involvement in the case.

"Baseless, fake and not even 1 percent true," he said.

According to the report, police had earlier said that Yadav was not present at the party hall and his involvement in the whole case was being probed.

However, Maneka Gandhi accused him of involvement in the illicit selling of snake venom and sought his immediate arrest.

"He (Elvish Yadav) has escaped for now but his arrest should definitely take place," Gandhi had told reporters, according to the report.