New Delhi:
Television actress Shruti Ulfat, who was arrested for posing with a protected cobra and has been granted bail by Boriwali court.
She was sent to judicial custody till February 16 but was granted bail on the surety of Rs.5000 cash bond.
According to the media reports, the lady landed in the legal trouble after a complaint was lodged against her for a video she has uploaded on social media a couple of months ago where is she was holding a cobra. NGO Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS Mumbai) had first filed the complaint with the forest department in October.
The 'Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha' actress was arrested by Thane Forest department on Wednesday and has been reportedly charged with a violation of Wildlife Act 1972, Sections 9, 39, 48a, and 51.0
Ths is d video that got Shruti Ulfat in trouble nd angered animal activists who complained 2 forest dept @PAWSMumbai @RAWW_TWEETS @dna pic.twitter.com/FBdAwfTXFU
— Virat A Singh (@singhvirat246) February 8, 2017
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Confirming the arrest, Range Forest officer Santosh Kank said, “We have arrested actress Shruti Ulfat along with 3 others for posing with a cobra and posting the images and videos online in October 2016. They were produced before the Borivli court and have been kept in custody of the Thane range. A CD with the images and videos was sent to the forensic lab and it has been proved that a live snake was used for shooting purposes.â€
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Notably, Shruti is not the only one to be booked in this case. In fact, Nitin Solanki, Utkarsh Bali and Pearl Puri, who too are a part of the production team 'Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha' too have been arrested.
On the other hand, Pawan Sharma who happens to be the founder of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) even wrote about the incident in a facebook post.
He wrote, "Actress Shruti Ulfat and three others from Nagarjuna daily soap booked by Mumbai Range of Thane Territorial wing of the forest department for using Spectacled Cobra, protected species under Wildlife Protection Act, Schedule 2. They were produced in court yesterday and court gave forest department their custody for a day to know and find the people who supplied snake to them. They will be produced in court again today.When I had assisted the Anti-Poaching Unit of the Forest Department for primary investigations at the Film City in October last year the actress made us wait for an hour with her rude staff which did not cooperate and all of them had misled the forest department stating that it was VFX /Graphics and not a real snake. However forensic reports in January this year revealed that the snake was real and the responsible people have started facing the heat. Posing for entertainment with a protected species which is one of the top venomous snakes of the country is unethical, illegal and misleading.#WildlifeCrimes  #ForestDepartment  #Mumbai."
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On the work front, Shruti Ulfat has been seen in several movies like as Raaz, Aetbaar and Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan. She was currently seen in Zee TV's popular daily soap 'Jamai Raja'.
