'I Was Treated Worse Than An Animal’: Shruti Gera Accuses Hotshots Producers of 'Casting Couch' Porn

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty's husband, businessman Raj Kundra was arrested on 19 July after being named as a “key conspirator” in an ongoing porn scandal. His WhatsApp chats revealed how he and his partner Pradeep Bakshi, who lives in the UK and operates HotShots app, used to make hundreds of thousands of dollars through pornography.

Trouble seems to be mounting for Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband, businessman Raj Kundra in the alleged porn film racket as another model-turned-aspiring actress has accused HotShots app content producers of shooting bogus 'casting couch' porn videos.

In an explosive interview to Times Now channel, model Shruti Gera said that she was promised a ‘break’ in a big-budget Hindi film and made to act in adult movies. She also opened up about experiencing a passive casting couch porn experience and has alleged that she was treated worse than an animal and was asked to be friendly with the crew.

’I was treated worst than an animal’: Shruti Gera, Model, tells TIMES NOW on #RajKundra's alleged porn film making case.

Aruneel with analysis. pic.twitter.com/TkbqKM4OHf

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 28, 2021

Mumbai police have filed a fresh case against four producers of the HotShots app allegedly owned by Kundra’s company. Actress Gehana Vasisth, who was earlier arrested in February 2021 when the porn racket was busted and was out on bail has been booked once again. 

On Wednesday, ​an Indian court dismissed Kundra's bail plea application in the pornography case.

Earlier, the Mumbai Crime Branch conducted a raid at the residence of Shilpa Shetty and Kundra and recovered a server and around 70 porn videos that were apparently shot by Kundra’s former personal assistant Umesh Kamat.

During the investigation, the Mumbai Crime Branch reportedly said that Kundra's WhatsApp chats revealed he was about to crack an international deal to sell 121 adult videos for $1.2 million.

According to a report published on the news portal Mid Day, Mumbai’s Crime Branch investigation team has revealed in the charge sheet that Kundra's adult film app and his company 'Bollyfame Media Limited' projected massive revenue growth with a target of INR 340 million (over $4.5 million) by 2023. The charge sheet filed by the police stated a gross revenue of INR 1.4 billion (over $19.6 million), the report stated.

​Alleged Bribery Case against Raj Kundra

Last week, a source close to India's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) revealed to Mid Day that in March 2021, the firm of Arvind Srivastava, alias Yash Thakur, identified as the kingpin of the porn racket, complained to the ACB by email and alleged that Kundra had avoided arrest thus far by bribing Crime Branch officers with INR 2.5 million ($34,000).

The case has been forwarded to the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Cheating and fraud case

In 2019, model-actress Poonam Pandey filed a case of fraud and theft against Kundra and his associates at Armsprime Media who were handling the app on which she used to post adult content. She accused them of illegally using her videos even after their contract had expired.

In a video posted on her social media last week, Poonam revealed that after she refused to sign a new contract, Kundra leaked her phone number with a caption, 'Call me now. I will strip for you'. She was bombarded with non-stop calls and threatening messages.

Porn Racket linked to IPL betting case

Mumbai’s Crime Branch shared with Indian media last week that they suspect the money earned from the pornography business by Kundra was used for online betting.

In 2013, Kundra, former co-owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament’s franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR), was arrested on charges of betting. During that time, the police had stated that Kundra used to place bets for the past three years via team co-owner Umesh Goenka, who was a bookie.

Though Kundra was let off without having to serve time, this incident led to the Rajasthan Royals team being suspended for two years and the suspension of Kundra from all cricket-related activities.

Now Mumbai’s Crime Branch suspects Kundra’s alleged porn scandal to be linked with his online betting scam. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will also be probing the financial irregularities.