According to police sources, purported WhatsApp communications between businessman Raj Kundra, who was detained in an accused pornography ring, and other members of a group showed he had a ‘Plan B’ in place after the app store removed ‘Hotshots’ owing to policy breaches.
According to them, ‘Plan B’ entailed developing a new application to continue the illicit business of manufacturing and distributing pornographic content.
Raj Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, was detained by the Mumbai crime branch on Monday night in connection with the suspected fabrication of pornographic films and their distribution through several apps, according to the Mumbai crime branch. He is being held in police custody until July 23rd.
According to the sources, at least four screenshots of supposed WhatsApp talks in which Kundra was reportedly seen discussing the ‘Plan B’ with another member of the ‘H ACCOUNTS’ group have appeared on social media.
“…Plan B started max 2-3 weeks the new app will be live iOS and Android it’s a blessing,” Kundra reportedly replied to a screenshot of a letter from Google Play Team regarding the status of the app (‘Hotshots’), to which a member of the group shared a screenshot of the correspondence.
During this exchange, a member called Rob Digital Marketing Hotshots asks Kundra, “until then, can we disable all the bold flicks and the Appeal again on the Play store,” according to the conversations.
“Until BF (Bollyfame) is up, let’s find a means to support HS (Hotshots),” a member informed Kundra in another snapshot from a personal conversation on November 10.
According to the sources, there was also talk of temporarily deleting “very bold content” from the network.
On October 11, members of the WhatsApp group ‘H ACCOUNTS’ discussed live income of Rs 1.85 lakh and movie sales of Rs 4.52 lakh, which Kundra and his brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, who was also reportedly involved in the scheme, praised.
According to a senior police officer, Kundra’s Viaan Industries has a tie-up with Kenrin, a London-based firm that controls ‘Hotshots,’ the OTT platform reportedly involved in releasing pornographic videos. Kundra’s brother-in-law owns Kenrin, he said. Last year, Google Play Store and Apple App Store prohibited ‘Hotshots’ due to its inappropriate material.
