The Enforcement Directorate searched actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra’s house today (November 29) in connection with a pornography case. Several other locations across Uttar Pradesh, including Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Kushinagar, as well as 10 other sites in Bombay, are also currently being searched. The agency is investigating allegations of money laundering and foreign exchange violations against Kundra. It is felt that the pornography case against him is linked to the money laundering case.
The ED had filed a case for pornographic production of content against Raj Kundra in 2021 when he had been arrested by the Bombay crime branch under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. He was later released on bail.
The current probe centres around allegations that Raj Kundra facilitated streaming adult videos through Hotshots app which has since been removed from mobile platforms like Apple and Google. Kundra informed the authorities that he had sold the Hotshots app in 2019. He has always denied the allegations, claiming no direct involvement in creating the content. He has accused investigators of falsely implicating him and making him a scapegoat.
This is a separate money laundering case against Kundra from the one initiated by the ED earlier this year when it (ED) had attached assets worth Rs. 98 crore of Shilpa and Raj Kundra in a crypto currency case. The couple, however, obtained relief from the Bombay high court against the attachment order.
