THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Anti-Piracy Cell (APC) is taking all efforts to curb piracy in the wake of ‘Premam’ controversy, the sale of pirated CDs is still rampant at Beemapally in the city.
Though the APC managed to register a case against two shops in the area last week, it seems that the shopkeepers have no scruples in selling the CDs of all Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films.
When ‘City Express’ stepped into a shop at Beempally, it was seen that many pirated CDs of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films were being displayed in the shelf. Films, including Kamal Hassan’s latest ‘Papanasam’, Mohanlal’s ‘Ennum Eppozhum’, ‘Kakkamuttai’ and ‘She Taxi’ were being sold like hot cakes. Moreover, each CD cost only Rs 20.
When asked about the film ‘Premam’, the shopkeepers said that all CDs of the film have been sold out, owing to high demand. Interestingly, it was also found that many of the shops in Beemapally were selling the pirated CDs in broad daylight.
Sources pointed out that no police officer would dare to raid the Beemapally area fearing the consequences. “As we all know, Beemapally is quite notorious for selling smuggled goods and pirated CDs. In fact, Beemapally has come to the limelight again after the issue of pirated CDs of ‘Premam’ flared up. Beemapally has been selling pirated CDs for years. A big mafia is operating there and it is very hard to curb that market. The raids will be intensified in a few days and all the dust would settle down when the ‘Premam’ issue is resolved. So, a permanent solution is the need of the hour,” said a retired police official on condition on anonymity.
Director and FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan said that the piracy prevailing at Beemapally was not a new thing. “Maybe the law and order problems, including political and communal issues, are holding back the police from entering Beemapally. So, the administration should display willpower to wipe out the piracy in the area. It is not only about ‘Premam’, but an entire film industry is affected by piracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, M Iqbal, DySP, Anti-Piracy Cell, said that the sale of pirated CDs at Beemapally could only be curbed by deploying a big police force.
“It is not possible to conduct raids by sending a small team. Hence, we are in talks with the City Police over providing a sufficient force to enter the market as the place is highly sensitive. For the first time, we registered cases against two shopowners in Beemapally last week. However, we are now busy with the ‘Premam’ row and the raids will be conducted with the association of police at the very earliest,” he said.