Six persons were arrested in Visakhapatnam yesterday for selling bootlegged CDs. In flash raids conducted across the city, these six were caught holding 189 pirated CDs, with 100 of them being of Baahubali – The Conclusion. Amongst the seized items were also a CD writer and pen drives.
Based on a tip-off, the Combined Task Force’s (CTF) ACP Chittibabu and his team reportedly raided a video studio in Seethammapeta. The video studio that was raided is KVS Video World and the owner arrested, named SV Subba Reddy.
Apart from the 100 pirated discs of Baahubali 2, the other 83 were of Katamarayadu, Sivalinga, Mister, Winner, Cheliya, Om Namo Venkatesaya, Dhruva, Fast & Furious, Rogue and Ghazi. All the seized items have been handed over to the Dwaraka police station.
The team went on to raid unauthorised download centres in Gajuwaka and consequently, arrested five persons. P Satish, K Venkatesh, P Siva Kumar, Md Sabul Pasher and S Ramesh were the ones arrested.
With all the hype and drama surrounding Baahubali, the recent events are only tip of the iceberg. Even before the movie released on April 28, the movie was streamed live on Facebook. The video was shot in a theatre in UAE where the movie saw an early release. The team of Baahubali 2 later went on to ask the public to send pirated links to them at [email protected] and help curb the menace.
Despite such efforts, just a few hours after its opening on 400 screens, a pirated version of the film appeared on a website known for uploading new Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi movies. The version had even been downloaded by several users as soon as it was put up. Recent reports state it is yet to be taken down.
Good news is, the Hindi version of Baahubali 2 has managed to break the records of both Dangal & Sultan – which is no easy feat.
