Shilpa Shetty, wife of businessman Raj Kundra who was arrested on charges of being involved in the production and publication of pornographic material through apps, has denied any role in the business, while simultaneously insisting that it is erotica, not pornography, that is streamed on Hotshots, the app which is now under the scanner.
Shilpa told the police, “The kind of content available on Hotshots is there on many OTT platforms, some of it even bolder, but they do not amount to pornography.” She had further stated that her husband was innocent and had no hand in the content creation, an official stated. Kundra’s lawyer Abad Ponda, too, had claimed that no sexual act was shown in the app, and argued that, “If it’s not actual intercourse, it’s not classified as porn.”
The Crime Branch searched the couple’s Juhu residence on Friday night, and have recorded Shilpa’s statement. Kundra was also taken to the apartment by the police during the search. Electronic gadgets and obscene images and videos were reportedly seized from his residence and office, apart from over Rs 7 crore.
Denying any role in the production of the pornographic material, the couple has named Pradeep Bakshi, Raj’s London-based brother-in-law, as the key figure in the activity through Kenrin, his firm which was distributing the banned content. But police claim Kundra had set up a company named Armsprime Media, which, through Kenrin, bought the Hotshots app to upload pornographic content.
Police are looking at the possibility of the earnings from the pornographic content being used for online betting, and are probing Raj’s links with a South Africa-based firm, and the large money transactions between the two. Meanwhile, Kundra’s police custody has been extended till July 27, and his bail plea was turned down.
In seeking extension of his custody, police had told the court that Kundra had plans to sell 119 adult films to a person for a sum of USD 1.2 million, and they wanted to probe this further.
