Raj Kundra has withdrawn his bail application from the sessions court that was filed earlier, a day after the businessman was named as the “main facilitator” in a pornographic content case. He along with other accused exploited young women struggling in the movie industry by filming them in obscene ways, the Mumbai Police claimed in a supplementary charge-sheet filed in a court on Wednesday. The 1467-page chargesheet against Kundra, 46, the husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, and his associate Ryan Thorpe, was filed before a magistrate court by the crime branch.
Actors Shilpa Shetty, Sherlyn Chopra were among 43 witnesses whose statements were recorded in the 1467-page supplementary charge-sheet which was submitted yesterday.
The case against Kundra, arrested in July, is related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. Two others, Yash Thakur, a resident of Singapore, and London-based Pardeep Bakshi have been shown as wanted accused in the chargesheet. It states that alleged accused Raj Kundra was the mastermind of the porn racket which lured aspiring female actors to work, and they were blackmailed into shooting porn films.
The crime branch had, in April this year, filed the first chargesheet in the case against nine persons. The previous chargesheet didn’t name Kundra since he was not arrested then.
In the voluminous document, the police have said the probe conducted by the property cell of the crime branch has revealed that Kundra was the “main facilitator” in the porn films case.
A lot of evidences against Kundra came to light after technical analysis, witnesses’ statements and from documents confiscated from his office, it said. Technical evidence includes multiple ‘porn’ videos retrieved from Raj Kundra’s office.
The police said Kundra and Thorpe, in conspiracy with accused arrested earlier, took advantage of financially weak young women who were struggling in the film industry and made obscene movies with them. All victims have alleged that there were forced to expose – both by the other accused and Kundra too.
The pornographic videos were then uploaded on various websites as well as mobile applications, they said. These videos were sold through subscriptions and Kundra “illegally” earned millions from them, said the charge-sheet.
Women victims were cheated – they were either given nominal compensation or paid nothing at times, it said.
As part of the evidence, WhatsApp chats between Raj Kundra and business associate Ryan Thorpe, other accused and witnesses is part of the chargesheet. Kundra and Thorpe also destroyed WhatsApp chats and e-mails from their mobile phones and laptops containing important evidence in the case, the police alleged.
They have been booked under sections of the IPC related to sexual harassment and cheating, among others, as well provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Kundra and Thorpe were arrested by the Mumbai crime branch on July 19 and are currently in jail under judicial custody. Their bail pleas are pending before a Mumbai sessions court.
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