YouTuber Arrested for Possessing Snakes & Sharing Snake Rescue Videos in Bhadrak

Bhadrak: The Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department arrested Mirza Md Arif, a YouTuber from Bhadrak for allegedly possessing two snakes and sharing the rescue videos of snakes on social media violating the Wildlife Protection Act – 1972.

The accused is a resident of the Kajimahala area of Purnunabazar in Bhadark.

Two monocled cobras, a scheduled species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, were seized from the possession of the arrested YouTuber.

Arif has over 2.82 million followers on YouTube and 1.44 lakh on Facebook, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Susanta Nanda said through a post on X.

According to an order issued by the state government on March 15, people posting selfies, photographs and other such materials with scheduled wildlife species, their body parts or trophies amounts to the violation of the Wildlife Protection Act and is a punishable offence with imprisonment up to seven years.

The accused had earlier given an undertaking to the Forest department to abide by the guidelines issued for the snake handlers by the Wildlife Wing, and delete all the posts uploaded on social media. However, he did not comply with the rule.

The Forest department has asked the social media platforms concerned to suspend his account.