Raj Kundra, businessman and husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was arrested by the property cell of Mumbai police’s Crime Branch in connection with the case of a pornography racket busted by Mumbai police in February. He was booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Hemant Nagrale said.
Back on February 4th, actor Sagarika Shona filed a case at the Malwani police station that alleged that a famous businessman who also happens to be the husband of an actress was running an underground porn racket. This created a stir in the Hindi film industry as she released a video press release. In the video, the model made serious allegations against Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra.
Raj Kundra’s team tried their best to deny the charges but after the police investigation it was revealed that Umesh Kamat, who happens to be the executive assistant to Kundra’s company’s managing director, had demanded a “nude audition” from Sagarika Shona. Although Kamat was suspended from his post after his arrest, the police had, by then, gathered enough evidence against Raj Kundra as well.
“On that basis, the FIR was registered and the case got transferred to the Crime Branch. Earlier also, we had registered cases related to pornography in which an actress and some other persons were made accused,” a senior officer said. Since earlier there were no clear links, leads, or evidence that could directly implicate Kundra, it took some time until he was finally arrested in July.
According to Mumbai police sources, Raj Kundra had reportedly invested 8-10 crore rupees in the porno industry. He and his UK-based brother formed a firm called Kenrin in the UK. The pornographic films were shot in India and transferred to Kenrin in the UK via WeTransfer. The police also claimed that Kundra’s associate Kamat took obscene videos of model and actress Gehana Vasisth and transferred the videos to Kenrin which would later publish them on an app called ‘HotHit Movies’. It is to be noted that Gehana has already spent five months in jail over pornographic content and is selling her ‘jail experience’ for a Rs 250 crore film.
“There was a case registered with Crime Branch Mumbai in February 2021 about creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. We’ve arrested Mr Raj Kundra in this case on 19/7/21 as he appears to be the key conspirator of this. We have sufficient evidences regarding this. Investigation is in progress please,” a police officer said in a statement. Nine people were arrested by the police in this case, which includes model-actor Gehana Vasisth and a man called Umesh Kamat, who happens to be a former employee of Raj Kundra.
Raj Kundra happens to be the son of a bus conductor. He has set up a business empire that includes trading, construction, real estate, energy, steel, shares, media, sports, gold trading and now creating porno videos has been disclosed and added to the list. Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty sustain a very luxurious lifestyle and own properties at expensive locations in Mumbai. Kundra started his first business venture at the age of 17 by selling pashmina shawls and likes to emphasize on the fact that he is a “self-made” man.
Kundra is one of the richest British Asian businessmen in the world as of 2021 and ranks 198 on the list. In 2019, the business tycoon started a company Viaan Gaming, which launched an application Housie Quiz last year. He formerly owned stake in the Rajasthan Royals team of Indian Premier League along with Shilpa Shetty. He also owns the app JL Stream. He, along with Akshay Kumar invested in a television channel that is still displayed in DTH service. Kundra’s net worth as of 2021 is $400 million which is around INR 2800 crore, and he earns around INR 700 crore per year.
Kundra was charged under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Raj Kundra is not new to controversies. As a co-owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team Rajasthan Royals, back in 2013 he was interrogated regarding betting and spot-fixing scandal in Indian cricket. Following the arrest, netizens further dug up Raj Kundra’s history of problematic tweets and interviews.
That’s not all, tracing back to 2012, he had also asked how porn was different from prostitution. “Why is it legal to pay someone for sex on camera?” he tweeted. Twitter users have been diligently bringing more such posts to the limelight. Further investigation is underway, as these reasons put Kundra into the spotlight as the “key conspirator” in this case, regarding the creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps.