Hyderabad: Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra is arrested by the Mumbai Police late on Monday night for allegedly making pornographic content and publishing them through mobile applications. This is, however, not the first time when Mr. Kundra would be hogging headlines. The businessman husband of Shilpa has stirred major controversies in past as well.
Have a look at Raj Kundra's biggest controversies so far:
- IPL Betting Scandal (2015)
Kundra and then ICC chief N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan were suspended from any type of cricket matches for life after they were found guilty of betting in the T20 tournament. During Delhi Police's investigation into the IPL spot-fixing scandal, Raj Kundra had admitted to betting through bookie and his business partner-friend Umesh Goenka, but not fixing. After this his team Rajasthan Royals was banned for two years, while in 2015 Raj Kundra was banned from IPL for life.
- Cheating Textile Company (2017)
A textile company accused Kundra of cheating them of Rs 24 lakh. In the complaint filed, the textile company said that the money collected by Raj Kundra and his wife, actress Shilpa Shetty, in the name of the particular company, was never given to them. The Police had filed a complaint against him.
In 2018, Raj Kundra was grilled for several hours by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a multi-crore rupee bitcoin racket busted by the Pune police with the arrest of brothers Amit and Vivek Bhardwaj for allegedly duping 8,000 investors to the tune of ₹2000 crore by luring them to invest in bitcoins through GainBitcoin, a website founded by the accused. In the same month, the ED registered offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Back then, Kundra was allowed to leave after over nine hours of questioning.
Shortly thereafter, he released a statement saying: "This is to clarify that I have no involvement in the bitcoin scam. I was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate merely as a witness. An inquiry is under way and I am cooperating with the law enforcement agency as Amit Bhardwaj is an acquaintance and protocol is being followed."
READ |Shilpa Shetty shares cryptic note after Raj Kundra accuses ex-wife of cheating
In 2020, actor Sachiin Joshi had filed a complaint against Shilpa and Raj, alleging that he had been cheated by Satyug Gold Pvt Ltd, a gold trading company formerly headed by the couple, from which he had purchased a kilo of gold in a gold scheme. Breaking her silence over the matter, Shilpa had rubbished the allegations and said: "All these allegations made by Sachin Joshi are completely false and baseless. At Satyug Gold, each and every client's orders have been fulfilled in time. We have even deposited 1kg gold for which Sachiin Joshi is yet to pay the demurrage charges legally applicable. Not many know, we also have a cheque bouncing case in court against this serial defaulter. If we didn't wish to give him the gold, we would not have it deposited it in court. The court has now appointed an arbitrator where we have presented the charges that are due and clearly mentioned on the invoice and website. The truth will be out real soon."
- Poonam Pandey's complaint against Raj in HC (2020)
Model-actor Poonam Pandey had filed a complaint in the Bombay High Court in 2020 against Raj Kundra, and his associates. Pandey had alleged that Kundra and his associates have been illegally using content featuring her even after a contract between the two parties was terminated. Kundra and his associate Saurabh Kushwah have denied Pandey's charge calling them 'false and frivolous'. They even claimed that they did not receive any notice.
It started when Pandey signed a deal with Kundra and his associates, called Armsprime Media. The company was handling The Poonam Pandey App. She claims that they have been using content meant for the app even after the contract to do so expired by over eight months. Pandey alleged that Kundra has been using the content and minting money. The actor back then stated that over a period of six months she has been getting obscene calls.
- Allegations of illicit relations on ex-wife (2021)
In some of her interviews, Raj's former wife Kavita had blamed Shilpa Shetty for the breakdown of her marriage. After this Raj claimed in his interview that his wife Kavita had illicit relations with her sister’s husband. Raj even went on to say that his mother had caught Kavita and her brother-in-law many times red-handed.
- Arrest in pornography case (2021)
Mumbai police have arrested Raj Kundra in a case related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. The businessman was taken into custody by the Crime Branch on Monday after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act. The case was registered on February 4 at the Malwani police station in suburban Mumbai. An FIR was registered against Kundra after a woman approached the police and made certain allegations in her complaint. Kundra was booked under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays), and relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
