Raj Kundra | Pornography Content Case
'Erotica not porn': Shilpa Shetty tells Mumbai police Raj Kundra not involved in producing porn
Mumbai/IBNS: Actress Shilpa Shetty has defended her husband Raj Kundra, who has been accused of streaming pornographic content through a mobile app, and also said she was not aware of the exact nature of the the content, Mumbai Police sources have said, according to media.
News agency ANI, quoting Mumbai Police sources said Shilpa Shetty claimed that it was another accused, London-based Pradeep Bakshi, who is also her husband's brother-in-law, was involved with the app.
She also asserted that 'erotica' and 'pornography' were different, and Raj Kundra was not involved in producing pornographic content.
Police had summoned Shilpa Shetty for questioning and wanted to know if she was aware of her husband's alleged link to the ponographic films, the report stated.
Yesterday, Raj Kundra was sent to police custody till July 27, said media reports.
He was arrested along with his aide Ryan Thorpe. Police told the court that they have seized a huge cache of pornographic images and videos- around 48 TB, according to an NDTV report.
Police recovered 51 clips from the laptop seized, the report said, adding that 31 of them were those streamed on Hotshots app.
Further, police have found transactions between a Yes Bank account in Raj Kundra's name to one in the United Bank of Africa. They suspect that the money from the sale of pornographic content was used for online betting and so far Rs 7.5 crore has been seized, the NDTV report said.
Kundra's lawyer Abad Ponda argued that the content seized can come under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code that pertains to "lascivious" material, he said, adding "no further custody is needed", said the report.
He contended Kundra cannot be charged under Section 67 of the IT Act - for which bail is not allowed, as similar content is available on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Kundra has also named Pradip Bakshi as the key figure and denied his part in any wrongdoing.
Police have alleged that Kundra was kept updated about the finances of the app and he created a WhatsApp group to discuss the production, distribution and selling of the content.
Meanwhile, Kundra has approached Bombay High Court to challenge his arrest and seek relief from the lower court's direction on extending police custody. He also said that the police summoned him for questioning but arrested him under the garb of recording his statement.
Police maintain that Raj Kundra is the key conspirator in the case and said they arrested him after finding sufficient evidence, including pornographic clips and emails from his office.
A case was registered on February 4 by a woman after a woman complained to the police that she was forced to take part in a porn film after being promised an acting job, according to media reports.
Kundra was arrested on Monday after Umesh Kamat, his former assistant, named him. Thorpe was arrested the next day. Till now 11 people have been arrested in the case.
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