The Bombay crime branch on 15th September filed a 1,500-page supplementary chargesheet in connection with a pornography case in which Shilpa Shetty’s husband, Raj Kundra, and his company’s IT head, Ryan Thorpe, were arrested in July this year. Shilpa has been shown as one of the 43 witnesses in the supplementary chargesheet. Five star witnesses have deposed before a magistrate and given statements against the accused. However, Shilpa has not said anything against her husband, that could be used by the prosecution.
Raj Kundra’s brother-in-law, Pradeep Bakshi, and one Yash Thakur have been shown as absconding accused in the chargesheet. According to the police, in the supplementary chargesheet, they have attached details of email exchanges and WhatsApp chats between Kundra and the other accused, 24 hard disks containing pornographic material seized from Kundra’s office, bank details of his firm, and the Hotshots app on which his films were uploaded.
Raj Kundra’s name had surfaced in July after the crime branch’s property cell, probing the case, stumbled upon the involvement of UK-based production company Kenrin and arrested its executive, Umesh Kamat, in the case. Kamat, a former employee of Kundra, is accused of uploading seven to eight porn and obscene videos allegedly shot by Gehana Vasisht, on a social media app for monetary consideration.
The police suspect, Kundra has a stake in Kenrin and he was involved in the production and distribution of pornographic material.
The property cell of the crime branch had in February raided a bungalow at Madh Island in Bombay and busted a porn video filmmaking racket. A woman had also been rescued then.