Mumbai: Going by the statements of witnesses, the element of inducement, which is a prime ingredient of cheating, appears to be missing from the prosecution’s case, a magistrate’s court said while granting bail to businessman Raj Kundra on Monday in the pornography case.

Kundra and Ryan Thorpe, the IT head of his company, who were both arrested on July 19, walked out of Arthur Road jail on Tuesday afternoon after the formalities. The detailed four-page order was made available on Tuesday. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate S B Bhajipale noted that all servers, laptops and mobile phones of the accused were in custody of the police and, hence, there was no possibility of tampering with evidence. “At present, all the accused are released on bail. In such circumstances, only on the grounds that further investigation is going on, the accused cannot be kept behind bars till conclusion of trial,” he added. The prosecution had opposed the bail pleas of Kundra and Thorpe.

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Mumbai: Granting bail to businessman Raj Kundra, a magistrate’s court said the trial is likely to take its own time. “In such circumstances, it will not be proper to keep the accused in custody when they are ready to furnish surety for their appearance and to abide by conditions set by the court,” it added.

The court said 64 witnesses have been cited by the prosecution and the chargesheet runs into 4,000-plus pages. Moreover, none of the offences attract a sentence of more than seven years’ imprisonment. “The report of the cyber expert is still awaited. At present, investigation is completed as the chargesheet was filed on September 15,” said the court, pointing out the SC has held that the accused cannot be kept behind bars even for an inconsiderable period when investigations are completed.

Advocates Swapnil Ambure and Prashant Patil had argued that Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe were not related to uploading of the allegedly questionable content. “There is not a single allegation in the supplementary chargesheet against the applicant (Kundra) that he was actively involved in any video shooting. In fact, it is the sole discretion of the individual artistes to upload content on the app,” the bail plea said.

The defence said the case of the prosecution is not that there are victims who were coerced or threatened by Kundra. “None of the artistes ever raised any grievance or any alarm with regards to the so-called alleged filming and broadcasting of erotic content. By their own admission, their dispute is in respect of sharing of financial gains and consequential contractual obligation,” the bail plea had said.

The court noted there is a statement in the chargesheet about transactions. “However, from the statement, it can only be gathered that transactions took place between Kenrin and Hotshots and out of said transactions, there was an exchange of amounts. However, exchange of amounts is not an offence levelled against the accused in the chargesheet,” said the court.

The chargesheet said Kundra had set up Hotshots, an online platform, with the intention of distributing pornographic material. Victims were cheated by being told that they were going to be given roles in web series, short films and television serials. A forensic audit also revealed money laundering of the Hotspots revenues. The funds were diverted using Google and Apple apps to UK company Kenrin’s account in Lloyds Bank even before the app’s sale by Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd. Police suspect Kundra has a stake in the production company Kenrin and was involved in production and distribution of pornography material.

Kundra and Thorpe have been told not to leave the country.

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Mumbai: Businessman Raj Kundra had 119 adult/porn videos which he wanted to sell to UK-based JL Stream, said the police.

The claim is part of Mumbai police’s supplementary chargesheet, naming him as a key accused in an alleged pornography racket.

The police said they couldn’t find any video contents from Kundra’s mobile phone but the forensic cyber expert’s report says there are digital footprints of video clips. Annexed to the chargesheet are emails and WhatsApp chat between Kundra, his brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi and one Monika from JL Stream discussing the sale of the porn clips. The police retrieved the chat from Kundra’s phone, in which there is a screenshot sent to him by Bakshi discussing the sale.

“Dear Monika, sharing the 119 movie list, this has cost me over $1.2 million to produce, giving them all to JL Stream in perpetual ownership. I would need part cash and part equity as discussed. The $75million valuation does not work for me… I am willing to agree on 2% in shares of JL Stream Singapore pvt ltd and $100k in transfer,” says Bakshi’s mail. Monika replies: “I have spoken to the board and the interest is there… to acquire your content bank in exchange for part cash part equity in JL Stream.”

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Raj Kundra, who was granted bail on Monday in a case related to creating and streaming pornographic content, was seen leaving the Arthur Road jail around 11.30 am yesterday. He was later seen arriving at his Juhu home. A magistrate court in Mumbai granted bail to the businessman, a key accused in the case, for which he was arrested in July. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SB Bhajipale allowed Kundra’s bail application on furnishing a bond of Rs. 50,000. His associate and co-accused Ryan Thorpe, who was arrested along with him on July 19, was also granted bail by the court in the case pertaining to the alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. The 46-year-old businessman and husband of actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra, was lodged in Arthur Road Jail in central Mumbai under judicial custody.

Raj Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. He moved a bail plea before the metropolitan magistrate court after the police filed a supplementary charge sheet in the case.

In the plea, filed through advocate Prashant Patil, Kundra claimed there was no evidence with the prosecution that would connect the app Hotshots, used in the alleged porn films racket, with an offence under the law. As per the probe agency, the app was used by accused persons to upload and stream obscene content. The businessman claimed there was no evidence of him being “actively” involved in the creation of alleged questionable porn content. Kundra alleged he has been falsely implicated, was not even named in the FIR and has been dragged by the respondent (police) in the case. The businessman claimed in the plea that he is being made a “scapegoat”.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Bhajipale, after hearing both sides, allowed Kundra’s application on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 50,000. In their supplementary charge sheet, the police had claimed Kundra was the “main facilitator” in the case, and he, along with other accused, exploited young women struggling in the movie industry by filming them in obscene ways. The Crime Branch filed the nearly 1,500-page charge sheet against Kundra and Thorpe in the court on September 15. Besides Kundra and Thorpe, Yash Thakur, a resident of Singapore, and London-based Pardeep Bakshi have been shown as wanted accused in the charge sheet.

— Agencies

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A few hours after Raj was granted bail, Shilpa shared a quote by Chinese-American modernist architect Roger Lee. “Rainbows exist to prove that beautiful things can happen after a bad storm,” she wrote.

Earlier, in her statement to the police, Shilpa had claimed she was not aware of her husband Raj Kundra’s activities as she was busy with her work.

Raj Kundra on Saturday moved a bail application in a Mumbai court, claiming that he was being made a “scapegoat” in a pornography films case. The businessman claimed that there was “not a single evidence” against him in the supplementary chargesheet, filed by the crime branch, that proved he was actively involved in the creation of the alleged questionable content.

Kundra – who along with three others has been accused of creating pornographic films and publishing them through some apps – approached the metropolitan court for bail, saying that the investigation in the case was “practically over”. He was arrested on July 19 after being booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act and is currently in judicial custody.

In the application for bail, filed through advocate Prashant Patil, Kundra claimed that there is not “a single iota of evidence” till date with the prosecution that would connect the app HotShots with an offence under law. As per the probe agency, the HotShots app was used by the accused for uploading and streaming obscene content. The bail plea also said that there is “not a single allegation in the entire supplementary charge sheet” against the present applicant (Kundra) that he was actively involved in any of the video shootings. The application claims that it is “a sole discretion” of the individual artists to upload their contents on the app.

The contents of the complaint do not disclose any prima-facie offence against Kundra, the application added.

It further claimed that Kundra was falsely implicated in the case, that he was not named in the FIR and that he has “been dragged by” the respondent (police) into the case, it added, further stating that he was being made a “scapegoat”, for reasons “best known to” the investigating agencies. It stated that the investigation so far “clearly shows that Kundra was not involved in any offence even in a remotest way” or in creating the alleged “questionable content”. Further, the plea claimed, he is “not even related to the process of uploading or broadcasting of the alleged questionable content”.

The bail application is likely to come up for hearing on Monday.

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Shilpa Shetty Kundra uploaded a page from a novel on her Instagram story, leaving followers wondering what it meant. It is the second such post by the actress after the arrest of her husband Raj Kundra in a porn-related case. The post, uploaded on Saturday on her Stories, had a quote from author Carl Bard. It read: “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending”. The page ended with two lines: “I don’t have to be defined by things I’ve done in the past. I can make the future what I want it to be”.

As a supplementary chargesheet was filed against Raj recently, Shilpa had gone to Vaishno Devi. Earlier, in August, Shilpa had posted a quote from author Sophia Loren, which read: “Mistakes are part of dues one makes for a full life”.

Mumbai: Businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra set up Hotshots, an online platform, with the intention of distributing pornographic material, his business partner has said in a confessional statement now part of the supplementary chargesheet submitted by the police.

The Hotshots app was set up by Armsprime Ltd, in which Kundra and Saurabh Kushwaha were directors. Kushwaha, who held 35% stake, said control of the app, including uploading videos was in the hands of Kundra.

Subsequently, Hotshots was sold to UK-based Kenrin Ltd with Kundra resigning from Armsprime’s directorship a day prior to the sale.

The chargesheet says a forensic audit also reveals money laundering of the revenues generated from Hotshots. The funds were diverted using Google and Apple apps to Kenrin’s account in Lloyds Bank in the UK even before the sale by Armsprime.

The revenues generated from the Hotshots app from August 2015 to December 2020 were transferred by Google and Apple Inc to the bank account of Kenrin maintained with Lloyds Bank in the UK instead of Armsprime Indian account. This indicated that the revenues that were earned and accrued on sale of the Hotshots app were diverted and laundered to Kenrin Ltd’s UK bank account during the directorship of Kundra in Armsprime Ltd,” the chargesheet says. Police have also attached the details of the revenues generated from the sale of subscriptions of Hotshots on Apple Inc and Google.

Kushwaha said he was in the dark about the operations as Kundra and the company's tech head, Ryan Thorpe, handled the show. One of the mails retrieved during the forensic auditing cites an email between Kundra and Kushwaha where the former mentions waiving off loans to Armsprime on the condition that ownership of the OTT platforms are transferred to his servers.

The scrutiny of the accounts and audited balance sheet of Armsprime reveals there are outstanding loans for an amount of Rs 17.92 lakh payable to Kundra as on March 31, 2019, said the chargesheet. This establishes Kundra is a director in Armsprime and also instrumental in deciding the sale consideration of the Hotshots app and its mode of payment.

Hotshots was sold to Kenrin in the UK on December 12, 2019. A day prior to the sale, Kundra resigned from the directorship of Armsprime. The chargesheet cites an email between Kundra and Kushwaha on January 6, 2020 which indicates purchase consideration and mode of payment were carried out with their mutual knowledge.

Meanwhile, Shilpa Shetty who is cited as witness no. 39 has stated that she was busy and never inquired with Kundra about his work. Kundra started Viaan Industries Ltd in 2015 which was into making animation, cartoons and apps, she said. Shilpa said that in February when the crime branch busted the pornography case and arrested Umesh Kamat, the PA of Kundra, she asked her husband about it. She said he told her that arrested model Gehana Vashist alias Vandana Tiwari and Kamath have independently shot and uploaded the porn movies.

In February, the property cell of the crime branch raided a bungalow in Madh Island in Malad and busted a porn video film-making racket and rescued a woman. This led to the arrest of Raj Kundra and others.

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Police have shown Raj Kundra’s brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi and Singapore-based Arvind Kumar alias Yash Thakur as absconding accused in the supplementary chargesheet. They issued lookout notices (LOC) against Bakshi, Thakur and Kundra. On why they have issued an LOC against Kundra when he is already in jail, police said that he was a UK national, and if released, he may fly to London and may not return to face trial.

My original plan was to be an engineer. But things changed after I arrived in Mumbai in June 2010. My family hails from Bhopal, but since my father worked in the coal mines of Chhattisgarh, I went to a school in the hill station of Chirimiri. My mother is a homemaker, and I have two brothers, and one sister. I was a topper in school, and Math and Biology were my strength. I had cracked the PET (Preliminary English Test), and was preparing for the IIT-Jee exam, but when I realised that I needed Rs. 2 lakh to get admission to a college, I knew I had to find a way to make the money.

When I saw an advertisement in the newspaper about a Miss MP contest, I decided to participate. I had imagined they’d ask me to dance a little here and there, but I was expected to do the ramp walk and go through a question-answer round. I told the organizers that I wasn’t fit for this. Back then, I was dowdy, wore mustard oil in my hair, sports shoes and baggy clothes. But they said, they would groom me. And just like that, I won Miss MP.

The fun part of the journey began when I was spotted crossing the road in Bhopal by an ad filmmaker. He asked if I wanted to pose for a Monte Carlo ad, and I told him that he should not make fun of a naive girl. But he was serious. For the first time, then, I walked into a beauty parlour and got myself waxed. I got Rs 500, but my pictures were in every Monte Carlo showroom across Bhopal. That amount was big for me; it got me through a whole month of coaching. Suddenly, people who had never paid attention to me because I was geeky—started inviting me to their parties. I also started getting some pocket money, and money matters, ya! Following this, I must have shot close to 50 ads for showrooms in the city. My face was everywhere. I even acted in an episode of Crime Patrol that came on ETV MP, and began work as an anchor for Sahara MP. I made Rs 1,500 a day.

Then, in 2010, I arrived in Mumbai to seek admission to Borivli’s St Francis Institute of Technology. I wanted to train to be a teacher. One day, I happened to meet Masud Mirza, who was one of the writers of Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Chandni Bar. Since he was from Bhilai, we got along. He was making a movie called Zara Sambhal Ke, and he asked me to audition for it. I was happy. It was as if I was getting everything without struggling for it. The movie was about the prostitutes of Nanded, and the role involved abusive language. In MP, using ‘tu’ is also considered rude, so I turned his offer down. I decided to once again focus on my engineering plans, and had even got a placement at Tata Consultancy Services. Then I met producer Sajan Agarwal. I frequented the office of Rashmi Sharma Telefilms, the production house behind hit shows like Saath Nibhaana Saathiya. Rashmi di’s husband Pawan, told me I should change my name. So, I consulted numerologist Sanjay Jumani, and landed the name Gehana Vasisth. I started my career with a show called Behenein on Star Plus.

This was a strange time for me—I had never worn jeans, and here I was in a bikini. I travelled to Hong Kong to participate in the Miss Bikini show, and gradually began to land films in the south. I have acted in over 30 Telugu and Tamil films. I even anchored a spot for the 2015 World Cup. I’ve also acted in shows for Amazon Prime, Zee5, and Ullu. I owed my father Rs. 2.30 lakh as an education loan, and I only had Rs 1.08 lakh with me. I remember walking on Naigoan station, when my father called me and asked what I was up to in Mumbai. I asked him to give me some time, as I was sure they would not support the idea of my acting. They eventually found out when a neighbour saw me on TV, and he wanted me to return right away. But my acting gigs gradually got me noticed among acquaintances in Bhopal. I was a celebrity and people started coming to our home out of curiosity and respect. Then, he realised, I had become someone.

It was in 2019, that I first met Raj Kundra. His personal assistant who I called Meeta Di, called me for a meeting. I knew that Kundra’s company Armsprime used to make apps for actors like Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra. I knew it was bold content exclusively for subscribers, so I told Meeta, I wasn’t interested. They wanted to block me for just two days, and all I had to do was get my hair and make up artist along. They’d do the rest. The profit sharing plan was 50:50. She insisted I come and have a cup of coffee at the office, if nothing else. I landed up in Andheri, where I met Kundra for the first time. I asked him why he made content of this kind, and he was candid enough to say that no one was being forced to do it. It depends on the artiste and what they wish to do with their career. I left after the coffee. Later, I checked the app and realised that most of the content was made up of tease videos. There was no full nudity. So, I thought, why not.

The money was good. I got my brothers through engineering, and managed to make arrangements for my sister’s wedding. I was not ambitious—I knew I wasn’t going to be the next Aishwarya Rai. For me, getting married, having kids and quitting my job was not an option. Kundra’s company was offering me Rs. 2 lakh for two days of work.

I signed the contract, and we went to Manisha Bungalow in Madh Island, to shoot a series of pictures and videos. There were backless shots, and I wore silicone cups throughout. There was some mild humping [expected of me], and smooching. I was happy with the fact there was now a Gehana Vasisth app. I carried on with this work till February 2020, when it dawned on me that I was on the wrong track. Why was I stripping! I let them know that I didn’t wish to continue. Meanwhile, I got a call from a producer I knew from long ago called Sajan Agarwal, who wanted me to act in a movie for HotShots, which to my knowledge was run by Umesh Kamath. I turned him down since I knew that once again it was going to be about shooting bold content. But then, another director who was a friend, got in touch, and said, do it, it’s all legitimate. I was offered Rs 25,000 per day. At the shoot, when the other actress removed her top, I froze. I had never seen a woman naked before.

I acted in three such movies, after which they asked me to also direct and produce. They would give me Rs. 3 lakh, and an approved script and actors, who Kamath would approve. I had to deliver the 30-minute film. After paying everyone, I realised I was left with only Rs 30,000, but I was happy about the fact that I was now a director-producer.

On February 4 this year, I was getting ready to leave for a launch party for one of my movies, when 14 Crime Branch officials showed up at my residence. They said I couldn’t leave the house, and began looking through data on my phones and laptop. They destroyed my house; jewellery worth Rs 12 lakh is still missing. They didn’t give me any information about what they wanted, but repeatedly said that while we had made crores, the actors had got a pittance. Three of the officials stayed at the residence through the night and the female cop kept suggesting I pay up if I wished to be free. They found copies of legal agreements concerning the films at my home.

I told them everything I knew; I had nothing to hide. I told them they can find the hard drives at the editor’s home, and gave them names of everyone who would be present on the set. I was told that if I named Kundra, I would be named a victim and set free. But I said I didn’t even work for Kundra, I worked for Kamath.

On February 6, they asked me to sign a piece of paper, which was written in Marathi. I didn’t know what I was signing. They booked me under Section 420 among others. I was held in Byculla Jail. On February 17, they took me to Malvani police station, where they said a girl had accused me of gang rape. Someone who had acted in my movie, said that she had been raped by those on set while I had watched. When I confronted her, she admitted to me that it was not the truth. How could it be, when I had messages from her about having a wonderful time on set. I was in jail till June 19, and I even contracted COVID during my time there.

I was released on bail. But on July 19, they arrested Raj Kundra. They have now levelled fresh allegations against me. I have to say this, no one gets raped or forced in Bollywood. These are regular artistes who work for different producers.

I would like the cops to come clean and make public my phone messages. They will see that everyone who had made allegations against me, has chatted with me on text, and said wonderful things. I still stand by Kundra. This was not pornography, and it was never forced.

Actor and director Vandana Tiwari, alias Gehana Vasisth, was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch on February 6 this year after her role surfaced in an alleged pornography racket. She has been named in two FIRs registered at Malvani police station—in one FIR, she is named as accused in a gang rape.

The Crime Branch filed a chargesheet which names Vasisth and eight other accused, this April. According to it, the Crime Branch received a tip off on February 3 about porn films being shot in a Madh Island bungalow. Raids were conducted and on February 4, five people were arrested from the location—the woman who was acting in the alleged porn film said that she was forced into the business. The five arrested from location included Rowa Khan alias Yasmeen Khaan (producer and director), Monu Sharma (photographer), Bhanu Thakur (actor), Arish Shaikh (actor) and Pratibha Nalawade (creative director).

According to Crime Branch officials, during the interrogation of the accused, especially Khan, Vasisth’s name surfaced. She was called for questioning and later arrested on February 6. During the searches, the officials found scripts and agreements pertaining allegedly to pornographic content creation. The charge sheet said that Vasisth used to upload obscene videos on escapenow.tv, and that she was in touch with a person named Umesh Kamath and had been sharing porn films files with him.

The officials learnt that Kamath was working for Kenrin Limited company in England, and sent porn films to the company, for uploading on their HotShot app which Raj Kundra’s firm allegedly had a tie up with. The investigating team said it also found some agreements involving the firm with Vasisth. The Crime Branch arrested Kundra on July 19. On August 12, Abhijeet Bamble, a director in one of Kundra’a companies was arrested in connection with the pornography case.

“Gehana was directly in touch with Kamath. She was getting monetary benefits and she is the one who used to convince victims to shoot the obscene scenes. Later, they were forced to act in pornographic films, and were threatened,” a senior officer of the Crime Branch said.

On June 19, the Dindoshi Court granted her bail after four months. In another FIR filed against Vashisth, she has been accused of coercing other actors to perform obscene scenes. The sessions court on August 12 rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by her fearing arrest.

According to Crime Branch officials, most of the porn films in question depicted penetration, and were uploaded on an app called HOTHIT. The app was owned by Rowa Khan and her husband Dipankar Paritosh Khasanvis alias Shaan, who was also arrested. The officers say they have seized porn scripts from the set in the Madh Bungalow. Khan used to direct and produce the films which were uploaded on her app. Apart from HOTHIT, some videos were also given to Kamath who then shared it with the London-based company. These were also uploaded on the HotShots app.

“She has made crores. The victims have also said that they were forced to sign agreements to act in OTT films, but later, forced into shooting porn,” an officer said.

Inputs by Faizan Khan

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday concluded hearing in Raj Kundra’s challenge to his arrest and remand in connection with a case of alleged “production and streaming of pornographic content” via apps, and reserved his plea for orders. His lawyer reiterated that the prosecution’s submission of the businessman deleting some chats on the day of the search to justify his arrest was an “afterthought.” Kundra was arrested on July 19 by Mumbai police and has been in magisterial custody in jail since July 27.

Senior counsel Abad Ponda, in his rebuttal before Justice Ajay Gadkari to public prosecutor Aruna Pai’s submissions, said the seizure panchanama after the search and remand plea did not show anything about deletion of chats which the state is stressing on now. “It does not change the position that there is no record of deletion (on July 19),” he said.

Pai added more videos were found by police on two apps which were “obscene and bold films.” She said police had served Kundra and his co-accused Ryan Thorpe the Section 41A notice under CrPC (a provision to seek appearance of suspect before police station for an explanation when intention is not to arrest immediately when offence attracts up to 7 years’ imprisonment). She said while Thorpe accepted the notice, Kundra had refused, and police arrested him for non-cooperation and for deleting data.

Ponda said police’s case is “falsified” as “apparently the mobile is taken charge of in the panchanama.” He said the seizure record will show his “mobile is in custody of the police.” He said from Kundra, two hard disks, one laptop and one mobile phone were taken charge of under the panchnama. “If this is so, then necessarily, the petitioner (Kundra) cannot delete data or WhatsApp groups or WhatsApp chats,” said Ponda, assisted by advocate Subhash Jadhav. The PP said deletion of chats was prior to serving of the notice.

Even Thorpe’s counsel Abhinav Chandrachud argued the second remand never mentioned any July 19 “deletion” but to a prior “February 2021” attempt. Thorpe also challenge his arrest and remand as illegal, and HC will now pronounce its order in both their petitions.

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Mumbai: A sessions court on Monday adjourned the hearing in the anticipatory bail plea moved by UK businessman Raj Kundra in an obscenity case being investigated by the cyber crime police. The court extended the interim relief from arrest till Saturday. In November 2020, cops had registered an FIR against 14 OTT platforms and web portals for obscene content based on a complaint by a retired customs official. Summons were sent to the heads of these platforms and portals, besides some actors in the videos. Kundra is currently in custody in a case being investigated by the crime branch. Kundra’s name surfaced after the property cell probing the case stumbled upon the involvement of a UK production company, Kenrin, and police arrested its executive, Umesh Kamat.

Statements given to the police by victims in the pornography racket busted in February this year have revealed how the women were lured with money amid the lockdown, forced to perform obscene acts and threatened with police cases for violating the contract if they objected. mid-day has accessed the details of statements recorded by two such women.

The two small-time actresses were struggling to find work amid the lockdown. Signing up for work with the accused led them to be forced into making pornographic content. They were allegedly forced by accused Gehna Vasisth, Rova Khan and Tanveer Khan into the work. The trio sold the videos to Arvindkumar Srivastava alias Yash Thakur and businessman Raj Kundra. The videos were later uploaded on platforms such as Hot Hit, Nuefliks and HotShots.

According to a 25-year-old woman’s statement, she used to play small roles in short films in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri. In 2018, she got some work through a casting director named Raunak. On February 4, they met in Malad where Rova also came and was introduced to the woman as the producer and director. The woman was taken to Madh in Rova’s car and given a script named ‘Single Mother’. The woman was then taken to the makeup room.

After the woman was ready, she was told she wouldn’t fit the role of a single mother as she was too thin and was given a script called ‘Bartanwali’. The woman read the script and refused to work. She was told by Rova that she would have to do the work if she wants money and that the film would not be aired on any channel. “People have to pay to watch this film, we have changed your name and look, no one will be able to recognize you,” the woman was allegedly told by Rova.

Then Rova asked the woman to record a small video using the name ‘Shanaya’ and saying, “Hi, my name is Shanaya. I have done Bold series on Hot Hit Channel. Download, Like and Subscribe to Hot Hit Channel to see my look. I don’t mind if this web series gets released anywhere.”

The woman was about to get Rs 25,000 but after recording the video she felt uncomfortable and refused to shoot. She was convinced by the man who played the lead actor and Rova’s friend, Pratibha. She was told that she will gradually become comfortable and that she will be a big name. Then the shoot began.

As per the script, the woman was to be a ‘bartanwali’ (utensil vendor) and ring the male lead’s doorbell. The man then took her inside his bedroom. The woman became uncomfortable during shooting and was told by Rova, “You didn’t have a boyfriend? Why are you being so shy? Are we asking you to have sex?”

The woman resumed work and finished the scene after which she was told to undress completely for the next scene. This scene, she was told, did not involve having intercourse. But the woman did not want to be nude, to which Rova responded with a threat, “Now all this has been done. If you do not have to do the next thing, then I will file a case against you for breaking the contract. I will take the money spent on the shooting from you. I see who gives you work in the film.”

“After the threat, I agreed to do the scene after practicing intimate scenes a few times while being half-naked. In the middle of this, women and men in plain clothes came into the room and said they are the police and the shooting stopped,” the woman said in her statement.

The second complainant, a 20-year-old, has a similar work profile. During the lockdown, she was not getting any work and was running out of money. On 10 January this year, she saw an advertisement on Instagram and Facebook for an acting assignment in web series. The ads had listed contact numbers. The woman contacted the number and was contacted by someone named Naresh a few days later. He told her to come for the shoot of a web series to be held in Madh. She was offered R10,000 daily. Naresh picked the woman up near Malad station and took her to a house in Madh. There she was told that the series belonged to Vasisth and was taken to the makeup room.

The woman was told that she’d be playing a queen and that there would be a kind, or raja, and three others. The story was apparently about a king and a queen. Initially, the shoot involved scenes shot in the garden outside the bungalow. Then Vasisth took the woman inside the hall in the bungalow where the next scene was to be shot.

The scene involved three people telling the woman that they had been waiting for her to turn 18, drag her into another room and take turns raping her. During the process, the woman objected to the scene but was threatened by Vasisth into working.

After the scene, the woman was dressing up in the makeup room when Vasisth visited her. The woman again objected to the work to which Vasisth responded saying Rs 10 lakh had been spent on the web series and if she refused to work, she’d have to pay the damages. Vasisth then took the woman back to the room for the next scene where she had to get perform intimate scenes with Akash, who was playing the king’s role. When the woman was leaving, Vasisth warned the woman to not reveal the details of the shoot to anyone. The film was uploaded by Vasistha on Nuefliks. The woman was paid Rs 10,000 for the film. The money was transferred to her father’s account.

In her statement to the police, the woman said, “The accused made me work in a porn film against my wishes. When I refused to work, they demanded R10 lakh as damages. Then they defamed me by uploading the film on a website.”

A Mumbai police officer told mid-day that the accused have made over 100 porn films in this way and uploaded them on platforms. “Whoever has been exploited in this manner can record their statement with us. At present, some victims are in touch with Mumbai police and their statements will be recorded.”

Actress Flora Saini’s name was mentioned by a Hindi news channel on Saturday along with a WhatsApp chat record they splashed on screen between Raj Kundra and Umesh Kamat in the ongoing porn racket case. In the chat, the two are seen discussing if they could rope in Flora for a song in a film on ‘Bollyfame’ (another app that Kundra and his associates were reportedly planning to launch) and even for a probable role. Flora released a video soon after the channel aired their story and clarified that she had no involvement with the two whatsoever and they discussing probable casting for their upcoming projects had nothing to do with her. Her name being dragged into a controversy without any confirmation compelled her to release a video to speak about the same.

In a chat with Bombay Times on Sunday, Flora set the record straight. She revealed, “I have never interacted with Raj Kundra. This is why I spoke up. Had I kept quiet, people would have assumed I had something to hide. If two people discuss my name in a chat that doesn’t mean I am aware or involved with what was being discussed. I am sure other names were also mentioned, perhaps of actresses who have done bold scenes. But since I am not from a film family, it’s considered okay to drag my name without even checking with me. Do these people understand the gravity of dragging a woman’s name in a porn scandal?”

She added, “I have done one web series called Gandii Baat that was risqué or bold per se. People conveniently forget my other work like Stree, Begum Jaan and Laxmii. So dragging me into this controversy has nothing to do with my screen image.”

Asked if she was approached by Kundra directly or his company, and she said, “Yes, casting waale aapko kabhi kabhi phone karte hai. It is they who will call you and say, aisi web series ban rahi hai for HotShots app, would you be interested? And I said no to that as well. I don’t work for new platforms as they make a certain kind of content and often budgets are low. I am not desperate for work. I have worked in South film industry for long enough. I did Gandii Baat because that was a challenge for me. I was a fat kid, so this was pushing the envelope for me. I have not done any bold series after that. Every actor has pushed their limits. To say, yeh ladki aise hi kaam karti hai, yeh bolna galat hai. The case deals with porn and by dragging my name into it, you are insinuating that I could be involved in it. This is a violation of my rights. Because I am not from a film family, they thought it was fine to drag my name in this. I don’t want publicity of this kind!”

On July 19, when news of businessman Raj Kundra’s arrest by the Mumbai Crime Branch in connection with a pornography racket started trending online, no one was really surprised. After all, this was not Kundra’s first brush with the law.

A college drop-out, the South London-born Kundra moved to India only after he married actor Shilpa Shetty in 2009. The couple met during her successful stint on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. Kundra started by handling her perfume business and the production of Miss Bollywood, a stage extravaganza she starred in, for which he travelled with her through Europe in 2007. While being a part of a high-profile relationship brought him to a new country and opened new doors for Kundra, it also meant that there was more scrutiny into all aspects of his life, starting with his businesses.

In the early years of their relationship, Shetty often described him as an entrepreneur and one of the richest Indians in the UK, while Kundra rarely spoke publicly and little to nothing was known about his businesses. There were some vague mentions of companies that traded in diamonds and import-export, but the couple maintained that producing Bollywood films was where their future lay. That plan didn’t really materialise, though.

Their first big financial investment as a couple was as co-owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals in 2009. Player auctions, private jets to view matches and post-match parties — the couple quickly became an integral part of the IPL juggernaut. As he grew more comfortable under the spotlight, Kundra began to branch out. He wrote a novel, “based on a real story”, titled How Not To Make Money that was published by Random House. And, launched a series of unrelated, but celebrity-led businesses. He also ventured into the home shopping space with Best Deal TV along with Akshay Kumar in 2015. He replicated the ‘league format’ with other sports and launched Super Fight League, an MMA-style tournament in partnership with Sanjay Dutt in 2012. This was followed by the Match Indian Poker League, a regulated poker tournament, launched in 2017. All three of these businesses have either faded away or lie dormant today.

It was the most visible of all his ventures where Kundra first ran afoul with the law. When the infamous IPL betting scandal broke in 2013, his was one of the big names that came up in the probe with the then ICC chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. The police stated that Kundra would place bets via the team co-owner Umesh Goenka. As a result, Kundra was suspended from all cricket-related activities for life and RR was also banned for two years. In 2018, however, he was given a clean chit by the Delhi police.

Kundra has been in troubled waters quite regularly in the years since. In 2018, he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection to a crypto-currency scam to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore. In 2019, he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai during an investigation in the Prevention of Money Laundering case against Dawood Ibrahim’s aide and late drug trafficker Iqbal Mirchi.

Last year, as the pandemic hit the world, the couple welcomed their second child Samisha, who was born via surrogacy. Kundra entertained his 700k followers on Instagram with videos where he morphs into Ranveer Singh, Iron Man and Lionel Messi and even does the occasional pati-patni comedy video. On the surface, things could not have looked any happier for the Shetty-Kundras, but the multiple legal issues they were facing had begun to catch up.

There was a police complaint of cheating and fraud concerning Satyug Gold Pvt Ltd, a gold trading company, where they are ex-directors. They were also summoned by the Ballard Pier magistrate’s court for delay in the payment of tax deducted at source (TDS) by Best Deal TV.

Significantly, the investigation by Maharashtra Cyber Cell for obscene content also started last year culminating in raids on a Madh Island bungalow in February where two women were found in a state of undress. And this is where Kundra seems to have dug himself deeper than he had ever done before. In 2019, he invested in the tech start-up Armsprime Media that built and monetised celebrity apps. Among Armsprime Media’s clients were models Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra and Gehana Vasisth.

Among those arrested in February was Rowa Khan alias Yasmeen, who claimed to be a producer-director. The police later learnt that Khan runs a mobile app called HotHit Movies, where porn videos are uploaded. Interestingly, Armsprime is the company that developed and monetised apps like HotHit Movies and HotShots. Mumbai police have said that Kundra’s name came up during the investigations in connection to his links to the company that hosted pornographic films on digital platforms.

There is a related case where the Maharashtra Cyber Cell had issued an FIR against 14 web portals and streaming services for obscene content in 2020. One of the apps belonged to Armsprime Media for which Chopra shot a film titled Chocolate in December 2019. In her statement to the Bombay High Court in April 2021, Chopra said she was told to “let go of my inhibitions and open up like Hollywood models”. It was Chopra who mentioned Kundra’s involvement in the company in her statement. When summoned by the cyber cell, the businessman maintained that he had exited the company in 2020, though he did apply for anticipatory bail in June 2021.

In a 2013 interview to Business Standard, Kundra talks about how he learnt the value of money from his father Bal Krishan, who started out as a cotton factory worker and bus conductor in London and went on to build a grocery business and buy post offices. Sent off by his father with 2000 pounds on his credit card to make something of himself, he claims he made millions in his first venture — selling pashmina shawls. In recent years, references to his rags-to-riches journey often come up in his #rajmantras Instagram account. In one post he wrote, “When you have made it from scratch nothing can stop you ever! Money might not buy happiness but it gives you the freedom, opportunities and options. Never give up! (sic)”. As the 45-year-old spends the next few days in police custody, he might want to think about that other famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson — “Money often costs too much”.

As investigations into the porn racket case against businessman and Shilpa Shetty’s husband, Raj Kundra, progress, the actress recorded her statement with the police at her residence in Juhu on Friday. According to sources, it was decided to record her statement after the police suspected that Shilpa may have known about Raj’s business related to the app, HotShots, where video content was uploaded.

The actress is believed to have told the police that the video content is erotica and not pornography. She also maintained that her husband has nothing to do with the entire business and she is not aware of the existence of pornographic videos claimed by Mumbai police.

While recording her statement, the Crime Branch asked Shilpa if she was aware of the alleged pornography racket run by her husband and Viaan Industries, a beneficiary. Shilpa served as a director of the company till 2020. An officer told mid-day, “She said that movies available on Hotshots are not pornography but erotica. She also said that nowadays, similar content is available on the various OTT platforms and in fact, some are more obscene than what is available on Hotshots.”

According to sources, like Raj, Shilpa too denied being involved in the production of the alleged pornographic videos. Raj has said that everything was handled by his brother-in-law, Pradeep Bakshi, from London, with whom he only spoke on WhatsApp. However, the Mumbai police is not relying on Raj’s statement. “We have enough evidence that he was dealing with everything, his brother-in-law was made owner of the London-based company just for namesake,” the officer said.

The Crime Branch has not found Shilpa to be directly linked with the coordination of people who shot the alleged pornographic videos by luring aspirants in the name of giving opportunities on leading OTT platforms. She was questioned for several hours about her exit from Viaan industries in 2020. The Crime Branch suspects she took this step fearing legal hurdles due to Viaan Industries’s connection with Kenrin Limited and Hotshot. Police have found evidence of financial transactions between Kenrin Limited and Viaan industries.

On Friday, Raj was also taken to his residence for a raid after his remand hearing. The Crime Branch conducted searches at the couple’s Juhu residence and seized electronic gadgets. They were also questioned together regarding WhatsApp chats. The officers left their residence late on Friday after six and a half hours.

Mumbai: A day after arresting businessman Raj Kundra for his alleged role in production of porn films, the crime branch raided his house and recovered the server. Police have stumbled upon WhatsApp chats between Kundra and his associates discussing an alternative plan after Google Play took down ‘Hotshots,’ the OTT app.

The crime branch has also recovered 70 videos shot by Kundra’s former PA Umesh Kamat with the help of different production houses. Police said Kundra was not revealing much during questioning.

Police will send the server for forensic analysis to know if Kundra had used it to upload pornographic material to his UK-based shell company Kinrin. Police have also written to various banks to provide details of Kundra’s and his company’s bank accounts for the last two years. Police said Kundra has been running the porn business for the last two years.

Kundra was arrested along with his company Viaan Industries’ IT head Ryan Thorpe (43) on Monday evening and on Tuesday, he was remanded to police custody till July 23.

On Monday, police had carried out searches of his Viaan Industries office at Lotus Grandeur as well as JL Stream at Veera Desai Road in Andheri. They had recovered documents like agreements between him and his brother-in- law Pradeep Bakshi, who is proprietor of the UK-based company Kinrin. They also found exchange of emails, WhatsApp chats discussing payment received from subscription of porn clips uploaded on Kinrin apps and other porngraphic material.

Police said the WhatsApp chats between Kundra and Bakshi indicate Kundra was aware he was violating the law as the ‘Hotshots’ app had been taken down by Google Play store in November 2020 and by Apple in June 2020 as the content went against their policies. In one chat, Bakshi said Play store had suspended ‘Hotshots’, to which Kundra replied, “That’s fine, plan B started, max in 2-3 weeks new app will be live on iOS and Android, it’s a blessing.” In another WhatsApp group chat, a digital marketing professional identified as Rob told Kundra, “Until then we can deactivate all the bold films and appeal again on the play store.”

In a WhatsApp chat with another arrested accused, ex-PA Umesh Kamat, Kundra shared the link of a TOI report that said cyber police were likely to summon heads of OTT platforms over airing of porn content. Kamat told Kundra, “Thank god you planned BF (Bollyfame)” and Kundra responded, “Till BF is up, let’s find out a way to sustain HS (HOTSHOTS). Let’s remove extreme bold for the time being.”

The case was registered on February 4, 2021 at the Malwani police station, after a property cell official raided a bungalow in Madh, Malad (West), and arrested five individuals for their alleged involvement in forcing young men and women to act in pornographic films. The videos were being uploaded on mobile apps and porn websites. Initially, the police had arrested Rowa Khan alias Yasmeen who claimed to be a producer-director, photographer Monu Sharma, and creative director Pratibha Nalawade and two actors, Arish Shaikh and Bhanu Thakur.

“The law will take its course. We have full faith in Mumbai Police, which is doing a good job. The courts will eventually decide during trial as to who are the real culprits and which accused were merely used by others. I don’t want to comment anymore, as I am on bail in the same cases and I do not want to prejudice or impair my right to my personal defence,” said Gehana Vasisth on Monday. Vasisth, who was arrested for allegedly shooting the ‘pornographic and obscene’ videos uploaded by Kundra’s former employee, has been released on bail. On Tuesday, she issued another comment — “None of the films are porn films. Those are just bold films as other producers like Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vibhu Agarwal and many others make. Other apps like Netflix and Amazon have bolder content than this. One needs to understand the difference between erotica and porn. I will request people to watch those films and only then comment. Police has just misinterpreted.”

“At this moment my heart goes out to Shilpa Shetty and her kids. I can’t imagine what she must be going through. So, I refuse to use this opportunity to highlight my trauma. The only thing I’ll add is that I had filed a police complaint in 2019 against Raj Kundra and subsequently registered a case at the honourable high court of Bombay against him for fraud and theft. This matter is sub judice, hence I would prefer to limit my statements. Also, I have full faith in our police and the judicial process,” said Poonam Pandey. Pandey had a contract with Kundra’s firm, that dealt with different apps, including Pandey’s adult app. She states that Kundra’s firm used her movies and footage illegally even after their contract was terminated.

Previously, the property cell had arrested Umesh Kamat, a man who had apparently claimed in his statement that he used to work for Raj Kundra’s company. Kamat’s name had surfaced during an interrogation surrounding actress-model Gehana Vasisth’s arrest on February 6, 2021. Kamath used to work for a UK-based firm as a coordinator and would take videos from Vasisth, and send them to the same firm that later uploaded them on an app, reportedly called HotShots. The former employee of Kundra was accused of uploading at least eight “pornographic and obscene” videos shot by Vasisth, reportedly from Kundra’s office. In the course of the hearings, it came to light that though Kundra claims to have sold the HotShots app to one of the wanted accused, Pradeep Bakshi (the proprieter of UKbased company Kenrin), it is claimed that he was regularly taking updates about financial dealings of this app.

Kundra had also made a Whatsapp group of which he was the admin, where he used to discuss distribution and financial transactions related to the clips of HotShots. Vasisth and Kamat would write stories for the HotShots app clips and the mails sent with the story to others were also marked to Raj Kundra. Police suspect Raj Kundra has a stake in Kenrin. Reportedly, Kundra is a relative of Pradeep Bakshi who lives in the UK. Besides being his relative and the chairman of this company, Bakshi is also Kundra’s business partner.

The 45-year-old was taken into custody by the Crime Branch after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act. Kundra has been booked under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays), and relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, registered at Malwani police station on February 4 this year.

Kundra had approached the Sessions Court in June seeking anticipatory bail in a case filed by the cyber police in connection to a complaint alleging that certain online platforms were publishing obscene videos as a part of their web series. The complaint was filed last year under the IPC section pertaining to obscenity, the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act. Among those arrested was an employee of a tech startup linked with Kundra. The arrest was made on the basis of the statement of model Sherlyn Chopra. Kundra was summoned by the police. He claimed to have exited from the start-up, and had nothing to do with the alleged shoots or web series. The court is likely to decide on the anticipatory bail application next week.

In a video, actress-model Sagarika Shona Suman has claimed that she had got a call from Kamat, who offered her a web series which was supposedly backed by Kundra. She says she was further asked to give a nude audition on a video call, which she refused.

— With inputs from Agencies

Mumbai: To mislead investigating agencies, businessman Ripu Sudan Balkrishna Kundra alias Raj Kundra (45), arrested late Monday evening for production of pornographic films, sold his app ‘Hotshots’ to UK-based company Kenrin Pvt Ltd owned by his brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi but controlled activities from Mumbai, police said on Tuesday.

Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, and his IT head Ryan Thorpe, arrested by the crime branch, were produced before the 37th metropolitan magistrate on Tuesday and remanded in custody till July 23. Police had already arrested nine people earlier in the case.

Kundra was involved in the streaming of pornographic videos through the ‘Hotshots’ app, police said. ‘Hotshots’ has now been removed from mobile platforms, and both Apple and Google have removed it due to its pornographic content. Kundra supplied the content and controlled the UK company from his Viaan Industries office. Kundra’s IT head Ryan Thorpe used to look after the app’s functioning, including financial transactions, police said. Kundra said that in 2019, he sold ‘Hotshots’ for 25,000 US dollars and formed another company, Arms Prime Media.

Police said they found proof, including clips from Kundra’s office. His lawyers Abad Ponda and Subhash Jadhav alleged the arrests were illegal as police did not follow procedures under the Criminal Procedure Code.

Police claimed they arrested Kundra after they gathered sufficient digital and material evidence to show his and his company Viaan Industries’ role in streaming of pornographic clips on various apps. Police, who carried out a search of Kundra’s JLM Stream office at Veera Desai Road, Andheri, claimed to have found documents indicating his role.

“In the ongoing investigations, after taking the court’s permission, our teams carried out searches of his office and residence. We found agreements, emails, WhatsApp chats and pornographic material,” said Milind Bharambe, joint commissioner of police (crime).

“Kundra had formed WhatsApp groups under the name ‘HS TAKE DOWN,’ ‘HS ACCOUNT’ and ‘HS OPERATION’ and he himself was the admin, where they discussed revenue generated on porn content. There are lots of transactions in various accounts in the name of Viaan Industries. We suspect Kundra’s company has received huge finances from foreign shores, which are proceeds of crime. Till now we have frozen several bank accounts of the accused in which we have found Rs 7.5 crore,” an officer said.

But Kamat told police Kenrin belongs to Pradeep Bakshi, Kundra’s brother-in-law. Police said though Bakshi’s company Kenrin owned the ‘Hotshots’ app, Kundra controlled it from his Viaan Industries office.

Investigating officer Kiran Biduo told court that Kundra’s involvement came to light after the arrest of Gahna Vashist, who named the businessman’s former personal assistant Umesh Kamat. Kamat revealed Kundra's involvement and said Kundra had appointed him as coordinator and used to look after the ‘Hotshots’ app.

In February, the property cell of the crime branch raided a bungalow in Madh Island and busted a porn film racket and rescued a woman. Police arrested five persons, namely Yasmin Rowa Khan, Pratibha Nalawade, Monu Gopaldas Joshi, Bhanusuryam Thakur and Mohammed Asif alias Saify under IPC sections of cheating, outraging modesty and indulging in obscene act in public places and under the IT Act for publicly exhibiting or circulating obscene books or literature. The gang’s modus operandi was to lure models promising them a break in web series and short films. They forced them to do “bold scenes” despite their objections, police said. Kundra’s name had also surfaced in investigations by state cyber police. In November last year, police had registered an FIR against 14 OTT platforms for showing pornographic content.