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Three CBFC ex-employees held for film 'Premam'

Last Updated 27 July 2015, 21:00 IST

The anti-piracy cell of Kerala Police on Monday arrested three former employees of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regional office here in connection with piracy of blockbuster Malayalam film “Premam”.

Arunkumar, Nidhin and Kumaran – all residents of Thiruvananthapuram – were arrested after the leak of the film’s print was traced to Arunkumar.

Anti-Piracy Cell Superintendent of Police Prateesh Kumar said the arrested trio made a confession confirming their role in the leak.

Reports said Arunkumar had copied the film into his pen-drive from a print submitted for censoring at the CBFC office here.

Later, the other two also copied the film. Following the leak, the film was shared by WhatsApp users as a series of files, leading to a controversy that also exposed friction within the film industry.

The arrested men were temporary employees at the CBFC office and had quit service last month. Kumar told reporters that investigators could not establish the role of CBFC members in the leak.

Students’ arrest
Earlier this month, investigators arrested four students from Kollam for uploading a pirated print of “Premam” on the internet.

Directed by Alphonse Putharen and produced by filmmaker Anwar Rasheed, the movie is one of Malayalam cinema’s biggest box office successes.

In the wake of the piracy controversy, that also dented the film’s theatre revenues, Rasheed resigned from industry associations alleging that the associations were not pro-active in tracking down the culprits.

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(Published 27 July 2015, 21:00 IST)

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