Raj Kundra paid police ₹25 lakh to evade arrest: Report

Raj Kundra has denied all allegations during interrogation, joint commissioner of police of the crime branch Milind Bharambe has said.

Raj Kundra, businessman and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty's husband arrested for his alleged involvement in a case relating to the production of pornography, bribed officials of the Mumbai Police with ₹25 lakh to evade arrest, news agency ANI has reported citing the anti-corruption bureau (ACB).

Raj Kundra and 11 others have been arrested by the Mumbai Police's Crime Branch on Monday night. (AFP Photo)

According to ANI, Maharashtra ACB officials said they have received four emails from Arvind Shrivastava alias Yash Thakur, another accused in the pornography case, and that a similar amount was allegedly demanded from him as well.

"ACB Maharashtra has confirmed that they received four emails from Arvind Shrivastava alias Yash Thakur in this regard, but his allegations of seeking a bribe from him and allegations against Raj Kundra bribing to evade arrest were quite vague in nature. The mails were forwarded to the Mumbai Police for further action on April 30, 2021," an ACB official was quoted as saying by ANI.

The bank accounts of Arvind Shrivastava alias Yash Thakur’s family members, which collectively amount to ₹6.5 crore, have also been frozen, according to police. They have said that Thakur’s name came up during Rowa Khan’s questioning. Khan and four others were arrested during a raid by the property cell on February 4, During their raid, the police said they found two women engaged in shooting a porn film and claimed to have rescued a woman.

Raj Kundra and his IT head Ryan Thorpe, arrested on July 19, are in police custody till Friday. “Kundra has denied all allegations during interrogation. He has not answered many of our questions,” crime branch joint commissioner of police Milind Bharambe said during a press conference on Thursday.

Bharambe said Raj Kundra had a tie-up with a London-based company involved in streaming pornographic content through a mobile application, Hotshots. The investigation into the purported pornography racket has revealed that Raj Kundra and his associates bought more than 100 porn videos from different producers and directors and uploaded them on Hotshots over the past one-and-a-half years.

The app has around 2 million subscribers, the investigation has also revealed. According to the police, data has been deleted from the server and other electronic equipment seized by them from Kundra’s Viaan company’s office. They are now taking the help of forensic experts to retrieve the deleted data.

Bharambe said that the police has not yet been able to any find any active role of Shilpa Shetty.

Kundra and 11 others have been arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Monday night for his alleged involvement in creating pornographic films and publishing them through mobile apps.