YouTuber Elvish Yadav, accused of using smuggled snakes in a music video, told police that the snakes had been arranged by Bollywood singer Fazilpuria, sources said.

During Mr Yadav’s questioning, Noida Police asked him about a video where he is seen with two snakes. The YouTuber told cops that the snakes had been arranged by Fazilpuria.

Cops have reached out to the singer and called him in for questioning.

Police made a major breakthrough in a racket of snake smuggling, when they arrested five people with snakes based on a sting operation. The operation was carried out by the NGO – People For Animals (PFA).

One of the arrested told police that they had arranged the snakes for a party being hosted by Elvish Yadav. Police rescued nine snakes, five of them cobras, from the banquet hall where the party was being held. About 20 ml of suspected snake venom was also recovered.

Mr Yadav, who shot to fame after winning the reality show Bigg Boss OTT 2, has denied all allegations.

Police have questioned the 26-year-old twice and asked him several questions about his involvement in the sale of snake venom based on the statements of Rahul Yadav, who was arrested for allegedly supplying the venom at rave parties.

Cops have also sought data from Mr Yadav’s mobile phone to obtain information about his call logs and past locations.

Pakistani citizens looking to secure new passports are facing a bizarre hurdle in the process — lamination paper shortage.

Reports say the country has been hit by a massive scarity of lamination paper that has led to a nationwide shortage of the travel document. Thousands who need to fly out of the country for study, work, or leisure are now struggling to obtain the green-coloured book with no end to their ordeal in sight, a report by the Express Tribune said.

Students in Pakistan are stuck at home with approved visas to pursue degrees in UK or Italy, waiting on their passports to arrive. Many are scared the endless wait might lead to them losing this opportunities, threatening to shatter their aspirations.

“My student visa for Italy was recently approved and I had to be in the country in October. However, the unavailability of a passport robbed me of an opportunity to leave,” Hira, a student, said.

The country, which imports lamination papers from France, faced similar delay in printing in 2013 due to the The Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) owing money to printers and a lack of lamination papers.

Qadir Yar Tiwana, the Director General for Media of the Ministry of Interior, assured that the government was trying to end the crisis as soon as possible. “The situation will soon be under control and passport issuance will continue as normal,” he said.

Many residents complained of receiving messages from the DGI&P telling them their passport was ready for pickup but when they reached the passport office they were turned away. “Ever since September the passport office has been stating that your passport will come next week but multiple weeks have passed and they keep repeating the same,” said Muhammad Imran, a resident of Peshawar.

Reportedly, the passport offices in Pakistani cities are also clueless about when the process could be restarted. A senior officer Peshawar passport office, told The Express Tribune, that they could presently only process 12 to 13 passports per day as compared to 3,000 to 4,000 passports per day earlier. Their best guess? Another month or two of wait.

Gold buying on Dhanteras, Diwali 2023: Should you buy gold this Dhanteras 2023? Is it a good investment bet? Historically, gold investments made around Dhanteras have yielded double-digit returns over the long term.