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Raj Kundra's porn app case: No active role of Shilpa Shetty found yet, say cops
The Hotshots app, developed by Raj Kundra and then transferred to a UK company owned by Kundra's brother-in-law was taken down by Apple App Store in June 2020 and Google Play Store removed the app in November 2020.
Actor Shilpa Shetty's husband and businessman Raj Kundra arrested in connection with a pornographic film racket has been remanded to police custody till July 23 on Tuesday. The 45-year-old has been accused of streaming a mobile phone application called Hotshots app streaming pornographic content shot in Mumbai and surrounding areas. So far, Mumbai police have not found any active role of Shilpa Shetty in the case. "We have not been able to any find any active role (of Shilpa Shetty) yet. We are investigating. We will appeal to the victims to come forward and contact the Crime Branch Mumbai and we'll take appropriate action," joint commissioner of police (Crime), Milind Bharambe said.
Timeline of the case
> In February 2019, Raj Kundra started a company named Arms Prime Media Pvt Ltd.
> Six months later, the company developed a mobile phone application called Hotshot, which has been named by police as the porn streaming app.
> The app was then sold to Kenrin Ltd., a London-based entity owned by Kundra’s relative Pardeep Bakshi for $25,000.
> In December 2019, Kundra resigned from Arms Prime Media. but Kundra used to control the entire operation of the app through three WhatsApp groups.
> The Hotshots app was taken down by Apple App Store in June 2020 and Google Play Store removed the app in November 2020. In both cases, the reason was the content.
> In February 2021, Mumbai Police registered a case after a woman approached the police and complained that she was forced to do a porn film.
> Subsequently, two more cases were registered and the property cell of the Mumbai crime branch made several arrests in connection with the case.
What is Hotshots?
The mobile application at the centre of the racket is a paid streaming application, which is no longer available. According to the description, the app offers exclusive and original short films, hot photos and videos of some of the "hottest celebrities from all over the world". The content is marked as 18+.
Investigation so far has revealed that Raj Kundra's Viaan Industries had an agreement with UK-based Kenrin, owned by Kundra's brother-in-law, about the responsibility of content creation for the app. Though the UK-based company was the front of the entire operation, the shooting used to be done by Kundra's company while the subscription money used to come in the name of Kenrin.
