Mumbai Police: Raj Kundra Has UK Citizenship, He May Flee The Country

Raj Kundra Bail Plea Rejected: Mumbai sessions court heard businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty's husband's bail plea on August 10 and deferred the ruling till August 20. Kundra, who was arrested in a pornography case, is to remain in jail till the next hearing.

As per reports, the Mumbai police opposed Kundra's bail plea during the hearing. The police pointed out in court that the businessman has UK citizenship and if released on bail he may flee the country and commit the same crime.

Raj Kundra in his bail plea highlighted that the police had filed a chargsheet in the pornography case in April. The chargesheet did not mention Kundra's name then nor in the FIR. The businessman's counsel argued that the persons mentioned in the chargesheet are already on bail. Kundra argued that the magistrate court's order against him is entirely based on conjectures. The plea said that the magistrate had failed to see that there is no material against Kundra to show his involvement in the pornography case.

The Mumbai police gave its response and told the court on August 10 that the crime allegedly committed by Kundra is of serious nature. They said that the probe in the case is still going on and they are still to find out where all the pornographic videos were uploaded. The police said that if Kundra gets released on bail he may commit a similar offence of distributing obscene videos. The police also said that videos affect India's culture and a wrong message will be sent to society.

The police pointed out that Raj Kundra is related to another accused in the same case, Pradeep Bakshi. They claimed that Kundra had tried to hinder the probe earlier by contacting Bakshi.

As per the police, the case has women as victims who belong to poor financial backgrounds and if Kundra gets out of jail, the police may find it difficult to gather evidence.

Raj Kundra was arrested on July 19 this year and has been in jail since then. Kundra has filed bail pleas and also called his arrest illegal but the courts rejected it. Earlier on July 28, the Esplanade Court in Mumbai had rejected his bail plea stating that the prosecution has a point in objecting to it. The court had ruled that if Kundra is released during the investigation, he may influence the case by tampering with evidence and the witnesses.

The Mumbai police have maintained since the start that they have solid evidence against Kundra which prove him to be a key conspirator in the case. They had also raided Kundra's office and claimed to have seized 68 adult videos.

Also read: Actor Sherlyn Chopra Summoned By The Mumbai Crime Branch Raj Kundra Case