Too busy, so unaware of Raj Kundra’s porn business: Shilpa

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has informed Mumbai Police that she remained too tied up in her work to know the porn apps or other activities of her husband Raj Kundra - who is under custody in the pornography racket case.

Shilpa further stated that Kundra had launched Viaan Industries Ltd around April 2015 and she was on the board till July 2020 when she quit owing to personal reasons, as stated in the charge sheet filed by the police on Wednesday against Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe.

According to the police probe, Kundra allegedly used his company’s Mumbai offices to manage the daily operations of the sleaze content racket and upload it through the HotShots and Bollyfame apps for paid viewers.

The nearly 1,500-page charge sheet also contains details of the investigations and the evidence collected against the 11 accused arrested till date, plus two others wanted accused in the same case, Kundra’s brother-in-law Sandeep Bakshi and Yash Thakur - to show how the entire paid sleaze content racket was being run.

The police during its raid on Kundra’s homes on 23 July and the Viaan offices in Andheri on 24 July, had seized incriminating documents, laptops, portable hard-disks, and also recovered a laptop from Thorpe.

All the electronic devices were subjected to various forensic tests to gather further evidence pertaining to the sensational case.

Besides Shilpa, the police have recorded the statements, including some before a magistrate, of at least 42 other witnesses, including models, films or television actresses, against Kundra and Thorpe.

The smut racket was exposed after the Malad police raided a bungalow in Madh Island in February, the subsequent nabbing of 9 accused, and finally the arrest of Kundra and Thorpe on 19 July, shocking the entertainment industry.