Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra was arrested on July 19, on charges of making pornographic content and publishing them through mobile applications. He was remanded to three days of police custody. On 23rd evening police recorded Shilpa Shetty’s statement. As they questioned her, they were checking if she knew about Raj Kundra’s involvement and alleged link to pornographic films.
Actress Shilpa Shetty has said she was unaware of the exact nature of content on ‘Hotshots’ – the mobile app via which her husband, Raj Kundra, is accused of streaming pornographic content. Ms Shetty said it was another accused – London-based Pradeep Bakshi, Mr Kundra’s brother-in-law – who was involved with the app. She also stressed the difference between ‘erotica’ and ‘pornography’, and said Mr Kundra was not involved in producing pornographic content.
Actress Shilpa Shetty, late on Thursday night, shared a cryptic Instagram story, which appears to be a page out of one of author James Thurber’s books. Shilpa Shetty’s Instagram story was posted days after her husband Raj Kundra was arrested in a case involving pornographic filmmaking. In her Instagram story, Shilpa Shetty highlighted the portion of the quote which said: “The place we need to be is right here, right now. Not looking anxiously at what has been or what might be but fully aware of what is.” Shilpa Shetty’s Instagram story also talked about dealing with challenges: “I take a deep breath, knowing that I’m lucky to be alive. I have survived challenges in the past and will survive challenges in the future. Nothing need distract me from living my life today”.
During 23rd July hearing Raj Kundra’s lawyer, Abod Ponda objected to classifying the seized content as ‘pornography’. Mr Ponda said the content could not come under Section 67 of the IT Act – for which bail is not allowed – as similar material is available on OTT platforms like Netflix. It can be covered only under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code – which deals with “lascivious” material, he said, adding “no further custody is needed”. Raj Kundra has approached the Bombay high court to challenge his arrest and dismiss the lower court’s order on extending police custody on that distinction. Mr Kundra has denied any wrongdoing and has also named Pradeep Bakshi as the key figure. He also claimed that he was arrested after being summoned to the police station under the pretext of recording his statement.
Mumbai Police said that Mr. Kundra also had a WhatsApp group to discuss the production, distribution, and selling of the content. Police also said that they have a record of Raj Kundra’s bank transactions – from an account in Yes Bank registered to Mr Kundra to one in the United Bank of Africa. Police is suspected that the money from the sale of pornographic content was used for online betting. Rs. 7.5 crore has been seized so far.
(Image: Shilpa Shetty twitter)
