The Cyber Police on Wednesday made the first arrest in connection with the leak of recently-released movie Udta Punjab on the internet days before its release.
The movie, which was already in the news due to its battle with the censor board in the Bombay High Court over cuts imposed by the regulator, was leaked on the internet two days before it was due for release, and downloaded by scores of people across the country. The Cyber police subsequently registered a first information report in connection with the incident and initiated investigations.
“During investigations, it was revealed that a website named allzmovies.in had uploaded the link to the movie. The website’s server is based in Delhi and a team was sent there to conduct inquiries. The owner of the website, identified as Deepak Kumar, was brought to Mumbai,” said an officer with the Cyber police.
Kumar was questioned for several hours on Wednesday, and after establishing that he had indeed uploaded the movie, was placed under arrest and charged under the Information Technology Act.
The police said Kumar is being interrogated on where he got the movie from, and whether he also uploaded it on other websites. The film was also uploaded to the website Torrent.com by a user named robby007, and efforts are under way to identify and apprehend this person, police said.
“The chain is likely to go further. We are examining the possibility of some more people being involved,” said an officer.
The leaked copy was without the cuts recommended by the HC after the case went to court, which indicates that it was stolen some time before the HC’s verdict and then leaked online.
Cyber police officials said investigations so far had not established any links between Kumar and the censor board.
