The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the house and office of businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, in Mumbai. This raid was conducted against him in connection with the money laundering investigation related to the porn network case. According to officials, the agency is also searching the premises of Kundra’s associates.Kundra was arrested in June 2021 for allegedly making obscene films. He later got bail in September 2021 after spending two months in jail.
ED raids Raj Kundra houses and offices in porn racket case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the houses of several people, including businessman Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Searches were conducted at about 15 locations in Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh.The search operation is reportedly linked to a money laundering investigation regarding allegations related to the production and distribution of pornographic content through mobile applications.
Searches were conducted at about 15 locations
For those who do not know, let us tell you that Raj Kundra was first arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch in July 2021 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, later he got bail from a city court.The network was busted after the Mumbai Police busted a pornography racket in February 2021, which led to the arrest of five people. Further investigation resulted in four further arrests over time.
Also read: ED raids premises of Raj Kundra, others in money laundering case related to pornographic material
porn racket case
According to details of the case, aspiring models and actors were lured with the promise of film roles, but were forced to take part in pornographic films. Shooting usually took place in rented bungalows or apartments in Mumbai.
During the shooting, the accused would ask the actresses to act as per a different script and also put pressure on them to do nude scenes. Those who refused were reportedly threatened and forced to bear the costs of the shooting.The recorded clips were then uploaded to a subscription-based app, requiring users to pay a fee to access the content.
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The Mumbai Police Crime Branch revealed the involvement of Hotshots, an app owned by Raj Kundra’s company, in this racket. Following the search operation, officials reported that adult material was found on the seized servers.
During the bail plea hearing, Kundra’s lawyer argued that neither he nor his IT head Ryan Thorpe–who was also arrested–were responsible for deciding what content gets uploaded to the platform. . However, Mumbai Police said that they have enough evidence against Kundra.
He had filed a discharge application, stating that the evidence collected during the investigation failed to establish even a preliminary case against him, citing “lack of necessary material evidence”.Apart from Kundra and Raj Kundra Films executives, actors Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra and Umesh Kamat were also named accused in the case.