Cops crack down on movie piracy racket

“A few days ago,we received a tip-off that the print of Dil Bole Hadippa that was released on September 18 is already available in the market. However,despite making some efforts,we could not nab them,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.

On Saturday,the team received a tip-off that a deal would take place for the print of yet-to-be- released Whats Your Raashee on September 20,near Guru Kripa Hotel at Kherwadi Junction.

“Three people on motorcycles arrived at the spot. Afsar alias Ashraf Haider Hussain and Firoz alias Sameer Irfan Khan (both Mumbra residents) handed over the print to their associate Aman alias Tanzeem Ali Hameed Ali,a Kherwadi resident. Around 5:30 am,we arrested the trio and a DVD print of What’s Your Raashee was seized from them,” said Maria.

According to police,during their interrogation,all three accused revealed that they were in touch with Durgadas Shriramswami Bhakta,a business development manager at Adlabs in Goregaon Filmcity,and that they had paid Bhakta Rs 2 lakh for the DVD. Bhakta and his associate Pal were arrested on Sunday. All the arrested accused have been remanded to police custody till September 30.

“Rajesh Harkishan Chaudhary,associate vice president of UFO Digital Mastering office in Andheri,will get master prints of yet-to-be-released movies. UFO processes the prints digitally. Earlier,the prints were given for individual distribution to theatres,and the pirates used to exploit loopholes to get the print out in transit. UFO has a system in place,wherein the movies are shown through satellite at theatres,” said Maria.

According to the police,Chaudhary used to save the movie on his laptop and on receiving money,he used to transfer the movie onto a DVD and hand it over to Bhakta.

“Bhakta then gives the print to Afsar,who in turn pass it on to Tanzeem,a computer expert. Tanzeem uploads the movie to his computer,and then sends it via internet to the kingpin of the racket,Asif,who is in Karachi. From Pakistan,Asif sends the movie prints to various countries,including Bangladesh ,Amsterdam ,Germany,France,Australia and Indonesia. They have an extensive network in India,” said a Crime Branch officer.

“Tanzeem used to get Rs 10,000 for every movie he sends via internet. Chaudhary and Bhakta used to get Rs 1 lakh each. Asif used to give the money to Ashraf for distributing it among other members. Asif may have links in the underworld,” said Maria. The gang has managed to get prints of 11 movies including Wanted,Dil Bole Hadippa,Aage Se Right,Lets Dance,FOX,Shadow and Chal Chalein.

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