March 29, 2024 16:37 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
PM Modi to kickstart BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign from Meerut | Kangana Ranaut in Mandi: 'Don't think I am a heroine, consider me as your sister and daughter' | Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav demand high-level probe into Mukhtar Ansari's death | PM Modi has mastered art of manipulating democracy, hurting Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge | Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest at 63
Raj Kundra's employees turn witnesses against him in porn case Raj Kundra | Pornography case
Image instagrammed by rajkundra9

Raj Kundra's employees turn witnesses against him in porn case

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | 27 Jul 2021, 12:04 am

Mumbai/IBNS:  Four employees of actor Shilpa Shetty's husband and businessman Raj Kundra have turned witnesses in the case involving production and distribution of pornographic films.

The employees told police that they were asked to delete clips, NDTV reported quoting sources.

The employees reportedly confirmed that the clips were uploaded from "HotShots", the controversial app owned by Kundra that the police believe was used for streaming porn.

The app was removed from the Google Play Store for Android phones and Apple's App Store and then the accused "activated Plan B" by launching another app, Bollyfame, said police.

Raj Kundra, 45, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on July 19.

A magistrate's court sent him to police custody till July 27. A day after his arrest, a lot of data was deleted from the records, said police.

He was arrested along with his aide Ryan Thorpe. Police told the court that they have seized a huge cache of pornographic images and videos-  around 48 TB, according to an NDTV report.

Police had recovered 51 clips from the laptop seized, the report said, adding that 31 of them were those streamed on Hotshots app.

Further, police have found transactions between a Yes Bank account in Raj Kundra's name to one in the United Bank of Africa. They suspect that the money from the sale of pornographic content was used for online betting and so far Rs 7.5 crore  has been seized, the NDTV report said.

Kundra's lawyer Abad Ponda had argued that the content seized can come under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code that pertains to "lascivious" material, he said, adding "no further custody is needed", said the report.

He contended Kundra cannot be charged under Section  67 of the IT Act - for which bail is not allowed, as similar content is available on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

His wife Shilpa Shetty had defended her husband and said she was not aware of the exact nature of the content.

Shilpa Shetty claimed that another accused, London-based Pradeep Bakshi, who is also her husband's brother-in-law, was involved with the app.

She also asserted that 'erotica' and 'pornography' were different, and Raj Kundra was not involved in producing pornographic content.

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
PM Modi in Bhutan 22 Mar 2024, 06:53 pm
PM Modi in Tamil Nadu 28 Feb 2024, 07:07 pm