Raj Kundra wanted to sell 121 porn videos for $1.2mn: Cops

Glitz

TBS Report
23 July, 2021, 06:35 pm
Last modified: 23 July, 2021, 06:45 pm
The police also stated that they believe the money obtained from pornography was used for online gambling

Mumbai police said in court today that actor Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra's WhatsApp messages showed that he was considering a proposal to sell 121 porn videos for $1.2 million.

Taking into consideration of Kundra's WhatsApp messages, Mumbai Police said, "This deal seems to be on the international level," reports NDTV.

The police also stated that they believe the money obtained from pornography was used for online gambling. 

According to the police, this is why transactions between Raj Kundra's Yes bank account and United Bank of Africa account need to be investigated.

The court ordered Kundra to be held in police custody until Tuesday. In the Bombay High Court, he has challenged his arrest.

Raj Kundra was today taken to his home in Mumbai for the first time since his arrest last Tuesday; he was escorted by a Mumbai Police team that searched the house the 45-year-old shares with Shilpa Shetty and their two children.

A sandbox with 48 TV data full of adult content had been found since the arrest, the police said in court, arguing for Raj Kundra's custody to be extended. Some 51 obscene clips were also found; 35 of them were on "HotShots", the businessman's controversial app that the police believe was used for streaming porn.

The app was removed from google store and IOS, so the accused "activated Plan B" and launched another app, Bollyfame.

The police said on Wednesday, a day after his arrest, a lot of data was deleted from the records and these needed to be retrieved.

"Their auditor and IT developer told us the monthly spending in the operations was 4,000 to 10,000 pounds," the police told the court.

Raj Kundra has been accused of producing and streaming porn videos on mobile apps. The police say they have evidence that he was the "key conspirator" in the case.

Laws against publishing and transmitting "obscene material" are tough in India, though watching pornography in private is legal. The police allege that a UK-based company was set up by Raj Kundra and his brother and registered in that country so it could evade Indian cyber-laws.

Requesting the High Court today to cancel his arrest, he said the videos could be described as "lascivious" but did not show "explicit sexual acts".

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