Police raid press for fake books

The social service branch (SSB) of the crime branch of Mumbai police on Thursday busted a gang involved in printing pirated books and raided a printing press at Asalpha in Ghatkopar West.

The police arrested three persons, including the owner of the printing press. Jaswant Singh’s controversial book, Jinnah: India-Partition Independence, which expelled him from the BJP, was being printed at the press.

The printing press owner, Ramzan Yasin Khan, 45, and two of his employees have been arrested under the Copyrights Act of 1957.

According to the SSB sources, they received a tip-off on Thursday afternoon from an advocate of Rupa Publications from Delhi. Rupa Publications has the copyright of the book, police said.  Further interrogation revealed that Khan had received an order from one Farhan (a resident of Colaba) to print 2000 copies of the book.

“The original cost of the book is Rs700 in the market, but the pirated price was Rs100,” said a police officer.