Raj Kundra's WhatsApp chats reveal he was discussing a deal to sell 121 porn videos for $1.2 million, Mumbai police said in court today. The businessman, who is actor Shilpa Shetty's husband, was sent to police custody till Tuesday by the court. He has challenged his arrest in the Bombay High Court.
"In the WhatsApp chats, we have found that Raj Kundra was talking about a deal about selling 121 videos for USD 1.2 million. This deal seems to be on the international level," Mumbai Police said, according to news agency ANI.
The police also said they suspect the money earned from pornography was used in online betting. "This is why transactions between Raj Kundra's Yes bank account and United Bank of Africa account need to be investigated," they told the court.
Raj Kundra was today taken to his home in Mumbai for the first time since his arrest last Tuesday; he was escorted by a Mumbai Police team that searched the house the 45-year-old shares with Shilpa Shetty and their two children.
A sandbox with 48 TV data full of adult content had been found since the arrest, the police said in court, arguing for Raj Kundra's custody to be extended. Some 51 obscene clips were also found; 35 of them were on "HotShots", the businessman's controversial app that the police believe was used for streaming porn.
The app was removed from google store and IOS, so the accused "activated Plan B" and launched another app, Bollyfame.
The police said on Wednesday, a day after his arrest, a lot of data was deleted from the records and these needed to be retrieved.
"Their auditor and IT developer told us the monthly spending in the operations was 4,000 to 10,000 pounds," the police told the court.
Raj Kundra has been accused of producing and streaming porn videos on mobile apps. The police say they have evidence that he was the "key conspirator" in the case.
Laws against publishing and transmitting "obscene material" are tough in India, though watching pornography in private is legal. The police allege that a UK-based company was set up by Raj Kundra and his brother and registered in that country so it could evade Indian cyber-laws.
Requesting the High Court today to cancel his arrest, he said the videos could be described as "lascivious" but did not show "explicit sexual acts".
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