Fresh FIR in pornography case: names producers of Kundra's firm, actress Gehana Vashishth

The Mumbai crime branch has lodged a fresh FIR in connection with a pornography case and named producers of businessman Raj Kundra's company as well as actress Gehana Vashishth in the new case, a police official said on Wednesday.

The case was registered by the crime branch's property cell at Malwani police station on Tuesday after an actress approached the police and alleged she was forced to shoot for a pornographic film for the HotShots app.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 420 (cheating), 392 (punishment for robbery), 393 (attempt to commit robbery), and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act and the Information Technology Act, the official added.

Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, was arrested by the crime branch on July 19 in a case related to the alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through apps. The 45-year-old businessman, who was on Tuesday remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, earned at least Rs 1.17 crore between August and December last year from his business of production and online distribution of porn films, the police had told a magistrate's court. Kundra has contended that the films made by him, which the police claimed to be pornographic, did not depict direct or explicit sexual acts.

After Kundra's arrest, Vashishth, who worked in three films produced for Kundra's app, had in a video said erotic content was different from pornography. Vashishth, who was arrested in February this year and later granted bail, and two others were recently summoned by the crime branch's property cell. Before the Mumbai crime branch took over the case, there was a complaint with the Maharashtra cyber department about the porn films racket, a senior police official earlier said.

The Malwani police had filed FIRs on the basis of complaints received from two women, while another woman had submitted a complaint at the Lonavla police station, around 120 km from Mumbai, he said. The Mumbai crime branch had started an investigation into the case after some victims approached the Malwani police station in February 2021, he said. During the investigation, it came to light that some small-time artists were lured by giving them a break in some web series or short stories, he had said. These actors were called for auditions and were asked to give "bold" scenes, which later turned out to be semi-nude or nude scenes, which were against the wishes of the actors, the official had said.

During the investigation, it also came to light that there were many porn-related apps that were operating in the cyber world, he said. The police then arrested producer Roma Khan, her husband, actress Gehana Vashishth, director Tanveer Hashmi, and Umesh Kamath (who used to look after India operations of Kundra's firm), he had said.

At least 11 persons have been arrested so far in the case, according to the police.