Responding to HT City, businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, says he has no association whatsoever with the Bangladeshi actor arrested on Thursday in Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra.

Riya Arvinda Barde, a Bangladeshi adult film actor, was arrested for allegedly staying illegally in India by using fake documents, according to officials of PTI. It is said that she worked on projects done by Raj Kundra Productions.

All these allegations, says Kundra, are ‘false’. He says that he is “deeply disturbed” by the rumors that are allegedly circulating, “I am deeply disturbed by recent news articles circulating false allegations about me. These reports claim that an individual, allegedly an illegal immigrant, worked for me or was associated with one of my supposed production companies. Let me be very clear I have never met this person, nor have I ever owned or been involved with any production company that this individual has worked for.”

He says the allegations are ‘false’, which is denting his reputation, “These false claims are not just damaging my reputation but also an effort to blackmail me for media attention. I have always run my business with utmost integrity and would not stand for such false accusations.”
He is contemplating litigation:. His lawyer Prashant Patil states, “There are certain reports in social, digital and print media regarding some alleged illegal immigrant getting arrested by Mumbai police. The fake reports are linking the said alleged accused to the production team of my clients Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Raj Kundra. This is misleading and has been intentionally done to defame my clients. There is a clear ulterior motive of dragging my client’s name in a controversial case for which my clients have no direct or indirect direct connection at all. Due to such mischievous act of creating such offensive content on social media, my clients are initiating criminal case with the cyber crime Mumbai police immediately under the provisions of Information and Technology Act.”

He adds, “Let me assure the public at large, as a lawyer representing Mr Raj Kundra and Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra. The criminals involved in creating a fake narrative with an intention to defame my clients shall be booked under stringent provisions of criminal law. We shall request for immediate arrests of such criminals who are circulating fake news regarding my clients. A separate suit for rupees 100 crores, for defamation, shall be initiated before the Honourable Bombay High Court against the media houses reporting this fake news.