On Friday, a part of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence and office of businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, in a money laundering probe associated with a pornography network. In the ongoing investigation, the ED also searched the premises of Kundra’s associates.
Earlier in June 2021, Raj Kundra was arrested and to spent two months in jail before being granted bail in September 2021. Since then, he has been named by Mumbai Police as the key conspirator in the case and has become a source of intense public and legal interest.
In February 2021, Mumbai Police started an investigation to find out during which time five people were arrested. Four more people were arrested as the inquiry unfolded. But it stalled, nonetheless, after it fell into the hands of new police leadership who put the case on hold.
Early this month, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch stepped up its probe after it found links to HotShots, an app owned by Kundra’s company. In subsequent searches authorities seized servers containing adult content, drawing attention to Kundra and his colleagues’ involvement there.
The recently raided ED is now trying to track the money trail of the alleged pornography network. Further investigation of Kundra’s financial transactions should be made to ascertain whether the proceeds from the production and distribution of explicit content were laundered through different channels, say officials.
The implications of the case are broader, since authorities are trying to unravel the ins and outs of the pornography network. The Kundra investigation is expected to continue into the next few days, with more details from the investigation expected to come out, as he and his associates continue to be kept under close scrutiny.
