THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a crackdown on movie piracy, the anti-piracy cell of the state police arrested 15 persons from various parts of the state on Saturday. According to the police, pirated copies of latest Malayalam films, porn clips, computers, hard disks, pen drives and memory cards used to record the movies were seized from the accused persons.
The drive was led by anti-piracy cell SP B K Prasanth. Three persons - Arun Lal, owner of Chalakkudy Rock On, Sajeev of Ashtamichira Ragam Videos and and Linson of Paliyekara Ann Mobiles were arrested from Thrissur district.
The four persons arrested from Kozhikode include Sajeer of Thiruvangoor Fajer Mobiles, Mohan Das of Atholi Swathi Music Park, Varun Alex of Chakarothukulam New Band and Pavangad Phone World owner Nisar.
The police team arrested three persons - Neeleswaram Nokia Mobile Centre owner Liju Abraham, Fort Road Dubai Mobiles owner Mohammed Saddique and Kanhangad New Bazar Pix Art Mobile Gallery owner Mohammed Irshad from Kasargod district.
In Kottayam district, Raju, a roadside vendor at Kalareekkal Bazaar, Rasheed, owner of Mobile Hub at Chingavanam and Harris, owner of T S Music at Changanassery Municipal Junction were arrested.
Two persons, Kanjiramkulam Sreerag owner Anil Kumar and Balaramapuram Shakthi Videos owner Shankaran were arrested from Thiruvananthapuram. “Most of the shops were located near educational institutions. Apart from pirated copies of Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English movies, porn videos were seized from these shops,” said Prasanth.
Anti-Piracy Cell deputy superintendent P M Iqbal, detective inspector Subhash Chandrababu, detective sub-inspectors Jimstal, Rathees and Rupesh Kumar J R and civil police officers Sterlin Raj, Benny, Ajayan, Subeesh and Saji were part of the team that conducted the raids.