Actress Shilpa Shetty's husband, businessman Raj Kundra has been arrested by Mumbai police on Monday. (Photo: Raj Kundra/Instagram) Actor and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty, whose statement was recorded by Mumbai Police on Friday in connection with the porn racket case in which her husband Raj Kundra was arrested, said mobile phone application Hotshots, on which the pornographic videos were uploaded, was not being managed by Kundra but his UK-based brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, who looked after the app’s functioning.
The police have already issued a lookout notice against Bakshi across the country. Department sources said Shetty in her statement said she knew about the app but not about its contents. The police said Shetty also claimed that the app’s contents were erotica, which is different from porn, and similar contents are available in several other OTTs.
The officers earlier said the pornographic clips, made in India, were transferred to Bakshi’s UK-based company Kenrin Pvt Ltd. Bakshi would further upload the videos on Hotshots. The app was formerly under the ownership of Armsprime Media and Kundra was its co-owner. Later, they sold the app to Kenrin for $25,000, while Kundra resigned from the post.
An officer said the money was being transferred from Kenrin’s bank accounts to 13 different accounts of Viaan industries and subsequently to Kundra’s personal account. “The money was being transferred on the pretext of paying for software maintenance of the application,” said an officer.
The crime branch officials added that Shetty was one of the directors in Viaan Industries till 2020. “When we asked her about the reason for resignation, she said she wanted to look after her family,” said an officer.
The police added that they will scrutinise Shetty’s bank accounts to determine whether any money was transferred there.
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