Too hot to handle
THE WEEK|August 08, 2021
Raj Kundra’s arrest reveals the ugly underbelly of filmdom
POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL
Too hot to handle

IT ALL BEGAN in February when the Malvani police station in Mumbai got complaints from two small-time actors that they were lured into nude auditioning in exchange for a role in some web series. This was followed by a complaint to Maharashtra Cyber, the nodal agency for cybersecurity and cybercrime in the state, about some mobile apps streaming pornographic content. The Mumbai crime branch took over the case and arrested film director Tanveer Hashmi and Umesh Kamath, who was in charge of the India operations of a firm owned by British Indian businessman Raj Kundra.

Though a case was registered against Kundra in February itself, he was arrested only on July 19. The charges included the production and distribution of pornographic films and content via apps, notably a mobile app called HotShots. Ten other people, including his associate and IT head Ryan Thorpe, are in police custody, too. Kundra is also being investigated for an alleged attempt to bribe Mumbai Police to evade arrest.

This story is from the August 08, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.

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This story is from the August 08, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.

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