The crime branch on Monday arrested five more persons in connection with the video piracy racket.
The crime branch on Monday arrested five more persons in connection with the video piracy racket. Three were arrested from Ahmedabad and two from Mumbai.
The arrested persons have been identified as Imran Shaikh alias Wasim, 26, Jogeshwari resident; his partner Ashfaq Baig, 31, resident of Bandra (E); Chirag Rawal, 29, his partner Moiz Rupwala, 37, and Rahul Mehta, 19 — all residents of Ahmedabad.
Police said the arrested men were also connected with Asif who handled the racket in Pakistan. “Wasim and Ashfaq had contacts with loaders who used to take the movie prints to various theatres,” said Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police, crime.
Maria said: “The movie prints are kept in a National Godown at Mahim. The prints are then given to the loaders to deliver them to various theatres in rural areas. After the loaders left with the print, Wasim and Ashfaq used to contact them. The loaders then used to give them the print for three hours, for which they would get Rs20,000.
“After three hours, the two used to return the original print to the loaders. In some cases, the distributors used to give rail tickets to their loaders to deliver the prints in remote areas. The duo used to give them airfare so that their three hours gets compensated and they reach their destinations on time.”
He added that the duo used to give a print to Aman alias Tanzeem Ali Hameed Ali, who was earlier arrested by the crime branch. “Tanzeem used to pass on the DVD to Asif in Pakistan through Internet. Wasim and Ashfaq also kept a copy of the DVD and gave it to Chirag at Rs1.25lakh per DVD,” said Maria.
Police inspector Ansaar Peerzade said, “After receiving a DVD from Wasim and Ashfaq, Chirag, who controls the racket in Gujarat, used to give it to his partner Moiz who then used to pass it to Rahul, the brother of Jeetendra Mehta, a video pirate from Delhi. Rahul used to upload the movies on Internet and pass it on to Asif.”
Rahul and Jeetendra then used to circulate them in India and abroad.
All the arrested persons have been remanded in police custody till October 7, by a local court,” said Maria.
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