The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at the residence and office of businessman Raj Kundra in Mumbai as part of a money laundering investigation linked to a pornographic network case. Raj Kundra, married to Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, had previously been arrested in June 2021 on charges of producing allegedly pornographic films. The raids also targeted the premises of Kundra’s associates, as the ED looks into financial transactions associated with the illegal network.
Raj Kundra was granted bail in September 2021, two months after his arrest, but the investigation into his alleged involvement in pornographic film racket has continued. According to Mumbai Police officials, Raj Kundra is the prime conspirator in the case that came into the public eye after the bust of a pornography racket by the Mumbai Police in February 2021. The investigation began with the arrest of five individuals connected to the illegal operation, and over time, more arrests were made, taking the number of accused individuals to nine.
The case has involved an elaborate scheme promising to give aspiring models and actors roles in legitimate films but forcing them into pornographic films. A usual shoot was arranged inside a rented bungalow or apartment in Mumbai, allegedly making the accused force their actresses to act according to another script and perform their explicit nude scenes. Those who refused were reportedly threatened with being made to bear the costs of the production. This exploitation of vulnerable individuals was a significant element of the case.
During the shoots, pornographic content was uploaded to subscription-based applications where users were asked to pay a fee for access to the films. In the course of the probe, it was established that HotShots is one of the apps owned by Raj Kundra’s firm. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch found adult content stored in the servers that were confiscated during the search operation that pointed to the connection between the business operations of Kundra and the distribution of lewd content.
During a bail hearing, Raj Kundra’s lawyers argued that he and his IT head, Ryan Thorpe, arrested along with him, were not involved in the process of selecting what content would be posted on the website. But the Mumbai Police officials contended that they had enough evidence to implicate Kundra in the business. Kundra’s lawyers filed a discharge application, arguing that the evidence collected during the investigation did not prove a prima facie case against him, citing a “lack of proof of essential ingredients.”
Besides Raj Kundra, many others have also been accused in the case, including actors Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra, and Umesh Kamat. The investigation is still on as the ED is following the money trail connected to the illegal pornographic network.