The Mumbai police on Wednesday filed a comprehensive supplementary charge-sheet against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra in the in the alleged pornography content case.
The Crime Branch-CID of Mumbai Police, which has been investigating the case for the past few months, filed the first supplementary charge-sheet in the case, before a city court. The charge-sheet ran into 1,500 pages.
Kundra, who was arrested on the night of July 19 in connection with a complaint registered by the Crime Branch in 2021, has been booked under Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) under the Indian Penal Code, Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Kundra, who lives in Mumbai with his wife Shilpa Shetty and two children, had earlier told the court that there was no evidence to link him against the HotShot App and was being made a ‘scapegoat’. He had submitted to the court that he had been falsely implicated in the case while the Cyber Cell was making an attempt to connect him with the crime.
Kundra, who is the founder Viaan Industries Ltd, and his United Kingdom-based brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, the Chairman of Kenrin Group, London, have been named masterminds of the porn content racket.
In April this year, the police had filed its first charge-sheet in the case against nine persons originally accused. After subsequent investigations, the police arrested two more accused, including
Kundra
Earlier, nine persons had been arrested. They comprised television actress Gehna Vashisht (32) Yasmin Khan (40) Monu Joshi (28) Pratibha Nalavade (33) Atif Ahmed (24), Dipankar Khasnavis (38), Bhanusurya Thakur ( 26) Tanvir Hashmi (40) and Umesh Kamat (39).
Kundra is the owner of Viaan Industries Ltd, jointly promoted by the couple, while Bakshi — a British citizen, who is married to Kundra’s sister — is the Chairman of Kenrin Ltd., London.
The HotShots app --- described as the “world’s first 18+ app” showcasing some of the hottest models and celebs globally in exclusive photos, short films and hot videos (implying soft-to-hard porn) – was removed from mobile platforms.
Similarly, Apple and Google have removed the app because of the pornographic content in it.
On his part, 46-year-old Kundra has denied any involvement and has claimed that he had sold the "Hotshots" app to Pradip Bakshi. However, the police said Mr Kundra was kept in the loop about the finances of the app.