Raj Kundra, Ryan Thorpe sent to police custody till July 27

Raj Kundra, businessman and husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, and his IT head Ryan Thorpe, arrested in connection with an alleged pornography racket, were on Friday sent to police custody till July 27, news agency ANI reported. Raj Kundra and Thorpe were produced before a magistrate’s court in Mumbai by the police, ANI added. Mumbai Police said in the court that they suspect that the money earned from pornography was used for online betting, the news agency said. They added that transactions between Raj Kundra’s Yes Bank and United Bank of Africa accounts need to be investigated because of this.

On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police said they have arrested Kundra and 10 people for their alleged involvement in the creation of porn films and publishing them through mobile apps. “He appears to be the key conspirator. We have sufficient evidence regarding this,” Mumbai Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale said in a statement.

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The case was registered with Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch in February this year.

Maharashtra’s anti-corruption bureau (ACB) said on Thursday it has received four emails alleging that Kundra even bribed Mumbai Police officials with ₹25 lakh to evade arrest. ANI cited an ACB official as saying that the emails were sent by Arvind Shrivastava alias Yash Thakur, another accused in the pornography case.

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The official added that a similar amount was allegedly demanded from him as well. His allegations, however, were vague in nature and forwarded to the Mumbai Police for further action, the official said, according to ANI.

Raj Kundra had a tie-up with a London-based company involved in streaming pornographic content through Hotshots, a mobile app, according to the joint commissioner of police (crime), Milind Bharambe.