An FIR was registered against Kundra on February 4 at the Malwani police station after a woman approached the police and made certain allegations in her complaint, an official said.
Mumbai police on Monday apprehended businessman and husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, in connection to a case concerning alleged production of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps, according to a senior official.
Crime Branch arrested 45-year-old Kundra after booking him under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Kundra currently lives in Mumbai with his actress wife Shilpa Shetty and two children. Following Kundra's arrest, Mumbai Police also arrested Ryan Thorpe, an aide of Kundra's. Thorpe was reportedly arrested from the Nerul area.
As per reports, Kundra was taken for a medical examination earlier on Tuesday and will be produced in court. A key piece of evidence against him includes Whatsapp chats between him and his associates, Times of India reported.
What is the porn film production case?
According to reports, Kundra's name surfaced in an investigation into a pornography case that started by the Crime Branch earlier in the year. The case had led to the arrests of nine persons including actor-model Gehana Vasisth. As part of further investigations into the matter, Kundra's name surfaced after the Property Cell of Mumbai Police's Crime Branch found a connection to UK -based production company Kenrin. The Crime Branch then arrested Kenrin executive Umesh Kamath, who has also been a former employee of Kundra and accused of uploading pornographic content shot by Vasisht online through social media. Investigators suspect Kundra also has stakes in the company.
What did Mumbai Police Say?
Nine arrests have so far been made in connection to the case. Mumbai Police, however, has named Kundra as the "key conspirator" of the case.
"There was a case registered with the Crime Branch Mumbai in Feb 2021 about the creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some Apps. We’ve arrested Mr Raj Kundra in this case on 19/7/21 as he appears to be the key conspirator of this. We have sufficient evidence regarding this," the Mumbai Police Commissioner said in a statement.
The case was registered on February 4 at the Malwani police station in suburban Mumbai.
An FIR was registered against Kundra after a woman approached the police and made certain allegations in her complaint, another official said.
"On that basis, the FIR was registered and the case transferred to the Crime Branch. Earlier also, we had registered cases related to pornography in which an actress and some other persons were made accused," he said.
"We will probe the Raj Kundra case and find out is there is any link between this and pornography cases which we had registered earlier," the official said.
Past controversies
Reports also suggest a link between Kundra'a arrest and a previous case when model and actor Sagarika Shona had claimed Kundra offered her a web series but demanded that she come for a 'nude audition'.
According to reports, model-actor Poonam Pandey has filed a case in Bombay High Court against Kundra and his associates, over alleged illegal use of her content despite termination of the contract between them.
(With inputs from PTI)