ED has intensified its investigation into a pornography case by raiding the Mumbai residence and office of businessman Raj Kundra.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on Friday at the Mumbai residence and office of businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to a pornography case. Officials confirmed that the ED also searched the premises of Kundra’s associates.
Raj Kundra was arrested in June 2021 on allegations of producing pornographic content and was released on bail in September 2021 after spending two months in custody. The case emerged after the Mumbai Police dismantled a pornography racket in February 2021, leading to the arrest of five individuals. Subsequent investigations resulted in four more arrests.
According to case details, aspiring models and actors were reportedly enticed with promises of film roles but were coerced into performing in pornographic films. These shoots were typically conducted in rented apartments or bungalows in Mumbai. During filming, the accused allegedly pressured the actresses to act in nude scenes, deviating from the initially provided scripts. Those who refused were reportedly threatened and told to cover the production costs of the shoot.
The filmed content was subsequently uploaded to subscription-based applications that required users to pay to access the material. Investigations by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch linked this operation to an app called HotShots, owned by Raj Kundra’s company. During a search, adult content was reportedly discovered on servers seized by the authorities.
During Kundra’s bail plea hearing, his legal counsel argued that neither he nor his IT head, Ryan Thorpe—who was also arrested—had any role in determining the content uploaded to the platform. However, the Mumbai Police claimed to have sufficient evidence implicating Kundra.
Kundra later filed a discharge application, asserting that the investigation failed to establish even a prima facie case against him, citing a lack of evidence to substantiate the charges.
In addition to Kundra and his company officials, actors Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra, and Umesh Kamat were also named as accused in the case.
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