Bengaluru: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said it had arrested the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) regional officer in Bengaluru and his two accomplices for taking a bribe to issue the censor certificate.
The official, K Prashant Kumar, and two others, Prithvi Raj and Ravi, have been accused of taking a bribe of Rs 12,000.
In a news release, CBI said that Kumar allegedly demanded the bribe from the producer and director of a Kannada film to issue a censor certificate.
According to the filmmaker, there were minor issues with the subtitles in the film. To ignore those glitches and approve the screening test, Kumar demanded Rs 15,000, but later reduced it to Rs 12,000.
Following a complaint from the filmmaker, the CBI laid a trap and caught Kumar red-handed receiving the money from the complainant.
The CBI later searched the regional officer’s premises and seized Rs 3 lakh in cash. All three suspects are being produced before the Special Judge for CBI Cases in Bengaluru, the release added.
Produced under Samvidhana Cine Combines, the film was screened for CBFC officials on November 20. It had no issues except for a mismatch in the subtitles, according to the filmmaker.
“I told them I would fix the issues, but he didn’t agree and emphasised that the film has to go through the process again from scratch after fixing the subtitles’ issue,” the filmmaker told DH.
He noted that he later messaged Kumar and requested to pass the test. He reverted through Ravi and demanded money to approve the screening test.
“The amount was nothing to me. I would have paid. But I got to know from other friends that this person has demanded money from many other producers, too. To expose him, I decided to file a complaint,” the complainant stated.
Published 29 November 2023, 22:14 IST