MUMBAI, July 28: The Mumbai Esplanade court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra, arrested in connection with a porn racket which the crime branch of Mumbai Police is investigating.
Kundra was arrested on Tuesday and was remanded in police custody till July 27. On Tuesday, as his custody ended, he was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody, while the bail plea was slated to be heard on Wednesday. As the hearing started, the public prosecutor opposed the plea on the ground that he was an influential person who could intimidate the witnesses and derail the probe.
To this, Kundra’s lawyer asked, “Is Raj Kundra a terrorist?”
Kundra’s lawyer also said the charge-sheet was already filed in April and many of the accused were out on bail. But the prosecution objected and said Kundra was a key conspirator of the case and rejected the bail plea of both Kundra and his business associate Ryan Thorpe.
On Wednesday, a fresh FIR has been lodged in connection with the pornography case against Raj Kundra in which the name of actor Gehana Vashishth has also been mentioned. Apart from cheating, charges of robbery have also been included in this FIR.
Kundra has also moved the Bombay high court against his arrest which his lawyers termed illegal as he was not served notice. The high court had heard the case on Monday but allowed no immediate relief to Kundra. The case will again come before the high court on Thursday.
In the latest updates in the ongoing case, the Mumbai crime branch has appointed forensic auditors to look into the financial transactions and bank accounts of Kundra. Actor Shilpa Shetty, who was believed to be upset over her husband’s alleged involvement in a porn case, is also not above doubt, Police said. Shilpa was also interrogated by the police in connection with the case.
Investigations into Kundra’s HotShots app, which was officially owned by Kudra’s brother-in-law, revealed that Kundra earned at least ₹1.17 crore between August and December in 2020 before the app was taken down by Apple and Google Playstore.
(Manas Dasgupta)
