Shilpa Shetty
Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty in a statement to Mumbai police claimed she was not aware of her husband Raj Kundra's activities as she was busy with her work. She told the police that Viaan Industries Limited was started in the year 2015 by Raj Kundra. He holds 24.50% stake in the company and was its director from April 2015 to July 2020. Later he resigned from the company for some personal reasons. "I have no idea about the 'Hotshots' or 'Bollyfame' apps," she said, according to a supplementary charge sheet filed by the city police in a Mumbai court in connection with a case pertaining to pornographic films.
Shetty's statement is part of the nearly 1,500-page charge sheet filed before a magistrate court on Wednesday by the police against Kundra, 46, and his associate Ryan Thorpe.
The case against Kundra, arrested in July this year, is related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps.
According to the charge sheet, Shetty told the police that she did not know anything about the apps, allegedly used by the accused for uploading and streaming obscene content.
Another actor Sherly Chopra, in her statement, told the police that Kundra had asked her to work for the HotShots app "without any hesitation".
She was told that the HotShots app would have more bold and hot videos, but Chopra refused, the charge sheet said.
Chopra further told the police that she had signed a contract with the firm Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd for creating the mobile app named 'The Sherlyn Chopra App'.
Saurabh Kushwaha and Raj Kundra were directors of the firm, she told the police.
Chopra claimed that as per the agreement, she was to get 50 per cent of the revenue, but she never got her share, said the charge sheet.
Another witness Sejal Shah told the police that she made three films for the HotShots app during the lockdown in March 2020.
Later, Yash Thakur, an accused in the case, asked her to work in a movie, which he claimed to be the remake of a Hollywood film.
She was told that it will have very "bold and erotic" scenes, but the film won't be screened in India.
But, the movie was shown in India and when she asked to delete the bold scenes, Thakur refused, she claimed in her police statement which is part of the charge sheet.
Yash Thakur, a resident of Singapore, and London-based Pardeep Bakshi have been shown as wanted accused in the charge sheet.
The case is related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps.
In April this year, the crime branch filed the first charge sheet in the case against nine people.
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, statements of witnesses and from documents confiscated from his office, it said.
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.
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.
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.
-- with inputs from PTI and Namrata Dubey
