Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra arrested as alleged “key conspirator” in porn case

In a significant development, Businessman and actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra was summoned on Monday evening by the Mumbai crime branch, following which he has been arrested.

According to a statement by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, Raj Kundra 'appears to be the main conspirator' in a case to do with the creation and publishing of pornographic films via apps.

Mumbai Police's statement on the arrest of Raj Kundra

The statement issued by Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale reads, "he is being questioned in a case registered in February 2021, which relates to the creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some Apps. We’ve arrested Mr. Raj Kundra in this case on 19/7/21 as he appears to be the key conspirator of this. We have sufficient evidence regarding this. The investigation is in progress please,” said the statement. 

The case details are as follows: Cr No 103/2021, u/s 292, 293, 420, 34 Indian Penal Code, u/s 67, 67A Information Technology Act, u/s 2(g), 3, 4, 6, 7 Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, registered at Malwani police station on 4 February 2021.

In June this year, Kundra had filed for an anticipatory bail plea in an obscenity case, which was being probed by the cybercrime cell. That case had pertained to an FIR registered against 14 OTT platforms and web portals for obscene content in November 2020. A retired customs official had filed the complaint on the basis of which FIR was registered and summons was issued to heads of these platforms as well.

Controversial 2 years for Raj Kundra

The arrest of Raj Kundra was preceded by a two-year period where he has been subject to multiple controversies. In Feb 2020, actor Poonam Pandey had filed a criminal case against Raj Kundra for allegedly leaking her number on an app, which the actor had entrusted Kundra's company to build. She, however, had terminated the agreement, but the app was continued, allegedly leading to her getting calls at odd hours, 'asking her to strip'.

Also in 2020, Kundra as well as Shilpa Shetty also had a cheating complaint filed against them with the Khar Police, wherein a NRI businessman had accused them of cheating via a gold trading company that they used to run earlier. Before that, in late 2019, Kundra was also summoned by the ED over business deals with D-company member Iqbal Mirchi.