FIR against Elvish, Fazilpuria for ‘using’ snakes in music video

Kulwinder Sandhu

Advertisement

Gurugram, March 30

The Gurugram police have booked Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner Elvish Yadav and singer Rahul Yadav, alias Fazilpuria, in connection with the alleged use of prohibited rare species of snakes in the music video of “.32 bore” song.

A case under Section 294 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, was registered at the Badshahpur police station on the directions of the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Manoj Kumar Rana.

A local resident, Saurabh Gupta, who is associated with an NGO, “People for Animals”, filed a complaint against them. In his complaint, he said Elvish and Fazilpuria, along with 50 others, were seen using various snakes in a video circulated on social media.

He claimed that such acts were prohibited under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Saurabh filed the plea under CrPC 156(3), demanding appropriate directions for the police to register a case.

He alleged that both Elvish and Fazilpuria had not obtained permission from the Animal Welfare Board, the district administration, or the Forest Department to shoot the video.

Passing orders on Thursday to register an FIR, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Manoj Kumar Rana also observed that the complaint against Elvish could only be ascertained by way of a fair, proper, thorough and impartial probe by the police, “which shall not only save the valuable time of the court, but also be instrumental in separating the chaff from the grains”.

Saurabh has also alleged that Elvish and Fazilpuria indulged in obscene acts at a public place (mall) where the video of the song was filmed.

The spokesman for the Gurugram police said further investigations into the case would be conducted by the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Badshahpur police station.

SHO Satish Deshwal said the police had not arrested them. “I will look into the orders of the court and act accordingly. I will also submit the compliance report in the case on April 10 when the next date of the hearing has been fixed,” he said.

Elvish was granted bail by a Gurugram court in connection with an assault case involving another YouTuber Sagar Thakur, aka Maxtern, last week.

On March 17, the Noida police arrested Elvish for allegedly selling snake venom at rave parties in the national capital region. Along with him, five Delhi residents were accused of being involved in it.

However, after staying in police custody for a week, he was granted bail by a local court.

Saurabh had also forwarded a letter to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the District and Sessions Judge of Gurugram, and the Gurugram Police Commissioner, claiming that he has been receiving continuous death threats on social media after the court orders. He said he was being pressurised to withdraw the complaint.