Prime accused in Bengal porn racket case now slapped with forgery charges

Shweta Khan, the prime accused in the porn racket case in West Bengal, has also been slapped with forgery charges by the personnel of West Bengal Police who are investigating the matter.

IANS | New Delhi | July 6, 2025 : Shweta Khan, the prime accused in the porn racket case in West Bengal, has also been slapped with forgery charges by the personnel of West Bengal Police who are investigating the matter.

The main charges against her in the matter are that she first secured fake Indian identity documents like Aadhaar cards, EPIC cards, and PAN cards under different names and thereafter, also opened bank accounts in those names by using forged fake identity documents.

Three such names in which such accounts were opened by the accused have come to the knowledge of the investigating officials which are Shweta Khan, Mahsina Begum, and Fultusi.

On Saturday, she was presented at a district court in Howrah. There, the public prosecutor furnished details in the court and sought fresh custody for her to question her in connection with the matter. The court remanded her to five days of police custody.

Last month, the police arrested three persons namely Shweta Khan, her son Aryan Khan, and her minor daughter.

Since the third accused is a minor, her case has been referred for processing under the Juvenile Justice Act and referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.

The main charges against the trio are holding a woman from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal captive for six months and brutally assaulting her with an iron rod after she refused to participate in pornographic video shoots allegedly orchestrated by the three accused.

The three accused in the case were arrested one after another on June 11 from different parts of the city by the investigating officials but only after the National Commission for Women (NCW) took suo motu cognizance of the incident and wrote to the West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, demanding immediate arrests under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

BJP had already alleged that Shweta Khan had close links with several senior leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress. In fact, a picture of her along with a high-profile member of the West Bengal cabinet from Howrah district also went viral on social media last month.

Nandini Rao

Aryan Khan and his mother, Shweta Khan, allegedly kidnapped a woman named Nandini Rao and held her captive for six months, attempting to force her into making pornographic videos.

According to the victim, 33 year old Shweta Khan — a bar dancer who use to run a production house with her son — lured Nandini with a fake job offer and brought her to a flat in Howrah. There, Nandini was allegedly tortured and pressured to become a bar dancer and act in porn videos.

When she refused, she was reportedly beaten with a rod, and the accused even attempted to insert an iron rod into her private parts.

But Shweta told media that she had been framed in the matter and her side of the story should also be heard. 'I am being framed in the case. Let my side of the story be heard, also, and let the investigators check the facts. I have been arrested based on a complaint by the family members of a particular woman. That woman concerned is married and even has a kid,' Khan told media persons.

After being on the run for quite some time, Khan was arrested from a hideout at Alipore in South Kolkata.

The policemen first arrested her son Aryan Khan and then her daughter Zoya Khan, a co-accused in the porn racket case. Based on the questioning of Aryan and Zoya, the state police arrested Shweta Khan, sources had said.

Local sources revealed that Shweta was married twice. Aryan is from her first marriage, while her daughter Ishiqa, who recently died by suicide, was also from that union. Her former husband has alleged that Shweta’s abusive behaviour drove their daughter to take her own life. Shweta also has a younger daughter from her second marriage, though the current whereabouts of the second husband are unknown.

The main charges against Shweta, Aryan, and Zoya are holding a woman from the North 24 Parganas district captive for six months and brutally assaulting her with an iron rod after she refused to participate in pornographic video shoots allegedly orchestrated by the three accused.

Since Zoya is a minor, her case is being processed under the Juvenile Justice Act and referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.

Aryan has already denied his involvement in the porn racket and said that he had a relationship with the victim woman who wanted to marry him.