HYDERABAD: Cybercrime police have dismantled what they describe as the largest movie piracy network in India, arresting five key members across multiple states.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said the racket was responsible for leaking hundreds of films online. Anand stated that the Telugu film industry alone lost about Rs 3,700 crore to piracy in 2024, while the wider Indian film industry recorded losses of nearly Rs 22,400 crore in 2023 from pirated content across theatres and OTT platforms.
The syndicate operated through hacked servers, hidden cameras in theatres, Telegram channels and cryptocurrency payments, fuelling what the city police chief called India’s “multi-billion-rupee piracy economy.”
Investigators traced the network over two months, following a complaint from the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce’s anti-video piracy cell in June.
Films such as #Single and HIT: The Third Case were found on piracy websites like 1TamilBlasters, 5MoviezRulz and 1TamilMV within hours of release. Later, Kubera was uploaded online on the same day it premiered.
Accused made crores through piracy
Police said the piracy functioned in two main ways. The first involved theatre recordings, where films were captured on mobile phones during screenings. The second, more sophisticated, method saw hackers breach media company servers to steal high-definition copies before official release. These were uploaded to piracy websites and circulated through Telegram, monetised through advertisements for betting platforms such as 1xBet, 4raBet, Parimatch and Rajbet.
Payments were made exclusively in cryptocurrency and converted to rupees through intermediaries. One accused, Cyril Infant Raj, allegedly demanded his monthly payout from sponsors be raised from USD 10,000 to USD 30,000 as the racket expanded.
The accused
Those arrested were identified as Ashwani Kumar (21) and Arsalan Ahmed (23) from Bihar, Cyril Infant Raj (32) and Sudhakaran (31) from Tamil Nadu, and Jana Kiran Kumar (29) from Hyderabad.
Ashwani Kumar is accused of hacking digital media company servers and selling unreleased HD versions at USD 800 each. Investigators say he leaked 120 films, including HIT: The Third Case about 18 hours before its release.
Cyril Raj, identified as the mastermind behind 1TamilBlasters, allegedly managed multiple overseas servers and uploaded nearly 500 films since 2020. A computer science graduate, he reportedly earned about Rs 2 crore in cryptocurrency, averaging Rs 9 lakh per month, and also hacked government and e-commerce websites.
Jana Kiran Kumar used an iPhone hidden in his shirt pocket to record nearly 100 films in Hyderabad theatres, including Cinepolis, Attapur, receiving USD 300–400 in Bitcoin for each.
Sudhakaran recorded Naai Sekar in Coimbatore. He pirated about 35 South Indian films across languages, the city police chief stated.
Arsalan Ahmed uploaded pirated content to file-sharing sites and shared links on Telegram, earning about USD 135 per film.
The crackdown
During raids, police seized laptops, hard drives, mobile phones, crypto wallet records and other digital devices. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) assisted in tracing cryptocurrency transactions through its Samanvaya portal.
Cases have been booked under the IT Act, Copyright Act, Cinematograph Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Advisories have also been issued to film producers, multiplexes, digital media companies and internet intermediaries to strengthen anti-piracy technologies and tighten security protocols.
“Pirated versions of new releases often appear online within hours. Producers spend years making a film, but before they can recover their investments, piracy eats into their revenues.