Mumbai/Chennai: Businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, has been arrested by the Mumbai Police for his alleged involvement in the production and distribution of pornographic films.
At the heart of this controversy is the streaming application called ‘Hot Shots’ that has now been removed from Google and Apple app store.
Raj Kundra and his IT head Ryan Thorpe, who were arrested by the crime branch, were produced before the 37th metropolitan Magistrate on Tuesday and remanded in custody till 23 July. Police had already arrested nine people earlier in the case.
According to police, Kundra was involved in the streaming of porn videos through the ‘Hotshots’ app. Kundra supplied the content and controlled the UK firm from his Viaan Industries office. Kundra however said that he sold ‘Hotshots’ for $25,000 in 2019.
The police claimed there were several WhatsApp chats that revealed Kundra (45) was involved in the financial dealings of the app and its contents.
The police also said three women have come forward with complaints in the case, saying they were ‘forced to act in pornographic movies’.
The accused persons took advantage of struggling models, actors and other workers, and made them work in these pornographic movies, the police said, adding that these movies were shot in rented bungalows in Mumbai.
In their remand note, the police alleged that the accused persons ‘made profits in lakhs in this illegal business of making pornographic films and uploading the same via some mobile apps for which subscription fees is taken from viewers’.
Meanwhile, YouTuber Puneet Kaur has said that Raj Kundra once sent her a direct message in connection with the supposed pornography for which he has now been remanded into judicial custody.
On Instagram Stories, Puneet Kaur wrote, “Brooo do you OGS remember our verified DM video where he reached out to me for hotshots!?!? Im deaaad.”
She continued, “I can’t even WTF this mans was really luring people -we literally thought it was spam when he sent that DM to me!? Jesus Christ man rot in jail.”