Raj Kundra bribed cops with Rs 25 lakhs to avoid arrest in pornography case

Tainted businessman and husband of actress Shilpa Shetty Raj Kundra has once again found himself in a new controversy. Kundra who was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch on Monday night in a case, which it said, related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps had tried to bribe crime branch officials. According to a latest report in Mid-Day, Raj Kundra was avoiding arrest till now by bribing Crime Branch officers by paying Rs 25 lakh. As per the report, a wanted accused has alleged that Kundra paid a fat amount to investigating officers to evade arrest. The report revealed that Arvind Srivastava also known as Yash Thakur, the kingpin of the porn racket that was busted in March, had complained to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) about Kundra offering a bribe. The ACB then forwarded his complaint to the Mumbai police chief’s office in April. However, there was no response on the same.

The complainant was Fliz Movies, previously known as Nuefliks, a US-based firm owned by Arvind Srivastava. The firm came under the scanner earlier this year and the police even seized Srivastava’s two bank accounts having about Rs 4.50 crore. As per the report, the email complaint also included screenshots of the alleged bribe chat but did not refer to Kundra. However, the complaint seems to have gone uninvestigated. A senior-level ACB officer told Mid-Day, "The ACB investigates only if there is demand for money and it can lay a trap. Since, in this case, the money had already exchanged hands, as alleged, the complaint was forwarded to the concerned department (Mumbai police) to initiate an action." Raj Kundra is currently in judicial custody along with another co-accused Ryan Tharpe who was a techie associate for their app Hotshots. On Monday, the police had described Kundra as the “key conspirator" of the case, which was registered on February 4 at the Malwani police station in suburban Mumbai. In all, 11 persons have been arrested so far in the case, the police have said. Kundra has been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.