YouTuber Elvish Yadav used a virtual phone number to coordinate the supply of snake venom for rave parties and send instructions to snake charmers, Noida police has said in its 1,200-page chargesheet filed in an Uttar Pradesh court yesterday.

The chargesheet, which names eight accused and contains statements by 24 witnesses, has shocking details of how the YouTuber allegedly arranged venom for parties. Noida police have said he used a virtual phone number for this. A virtual number provides more privacy and is not tied to a location or device.

The chargesheet says that when a party was planned and venom was required, Elvish Yadav used the virtual number to call his friend Vinay. Vinay would then convey the instructions to Ishwar, who would pass them on to snake charmers. The snake charmers would accordingly reach the party’s venue with their snakes, the chargesheet says. Police have found Elvish’s virtual number on Vinay’s call records.

Elvish, Vinay and Ishwar had been arrested for questioning last month and are currently out on bail.

Noida police have also said venom was extracted from snakes at a banquet hall owned by Ishwar. Elvish Yadav, the chargesheet says, was in touch with snake charmers now in jail. Police have also explained the grounds for invoking sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 against the YouTuber.

Senior police officer Vidya Sagar Mishra said the venom seized from the snake charmers belongs to krait snakes, a member of the cobra family. “We have filed a chargesheet against all named accused. We have also included statements by an adequate number of witnesses. This includes an expert from Mumbai’s Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology.”

In November last year, five snake charmers were arrested from a banquet hall in Noida’s Sector 51 and nine snakes, five of them cobra, were recovered from them. About 20 ml of suspected snake venom was also found. The snake charmers were arrested and are now out on bail. The investigation into the matter led the cops to Elvish Yadav and the other accused.

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