Adult film case: Raj Kundra’s police custody extended till July 27

Police said Kundra’s name came up following the arrest of a co-accused, Umesh Kamat, who was working with Kenrin. In the remand note seeking Kundra’s custody, police said an analysis of Kamat’s laptop showed that e-mails sent to Bakshi had been copied to Kundra also.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: July 23, 2021 02:54 PM IST

3 min read

Police record statement of actor Shilpa Shetty, get Kundra’s extended custody

The Mumbai Police on Friday recorded the statement of actor and businesswomen Shilpa Shetty at her Juhu residence in connection with the porn racket case in which her husband Raj Kundra has been arrested. (Express file photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

The police custody of businessman Raj Kundra, arrested in a pornographic films case, was on Friday extended till July 27. On Tuesday, a Mumbai court has sent him to the custody of Mumbai police till today.

According to reports, Kundra, husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, was “actually running” the mobile application which streamed these videos, overseeing the content as well financial dealings, Mumbai Police said on Tuesday.

Explained | The adult film racket in which Raj Kundra has been arrested

Police said Kundra’s Mumbai-based company, Viaan Industries, was linked to the UK-based Kenrin Pvt Ltd, which has been under the police scanner since February this year, when they first registered an FIR in the case and arrested nine persons. According to police, Kenrin owned the ‘Hotshots’ phone application on which pornographic content was uploaded. Kenrin is a production company owned by Kundra’s brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, who has also been named as a wanted accused in the case. Addressing the media, Joint CP (Crime) Milind Bharambe said the decision to arrest Kundra was taken on Monday after a police team searched the premises of Viaan Industries in Andheri (West). “In the search operation, our team found evidence of WhatsApp conversations, accounting sheets, e-mail and pornographic clips that clearly show that it was Kundra who was actually running the pornographic app ‘Hotshots’ through his company, Viaan Industries. Hence, we summoned him for questioning and decided to place him under arrest,” Bharambe said.

Also Read | Police: UK company behind porn app sent money to Kundra firm’s accounts

Police said Kamat’s phone showed that Kundra had formed various WhatsApp groups for the app, named ‘HS Takedown’, ‘HS Operations’, ‘HS Account’. HS is suspected to be an abbreviation for the ‘Hotshots’ app. Kundra was the administrator of these groups.

On Wednesday, the Mumbai Crime Branch, investigating the case, said that a UK-based company, Kenrin Pvt Ltd, which had purchased the pornographic app ‘Hotshots’ in 2019, was transferring money to 13 bank accounts belonging to Kundra’s Viaan Industries. The amount was subsequently transferred to Kundra’s personal account, they added. The money was being transferred on the pretext of “software maintenance”, they said.

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