Vettaiyan Leaked Online: Two Nabbed By Kochi Police For Piracy Of Rajinikanth Starrer On Release Day

Kochi cyber police came down heavily on piracy as it nabbed two associated with a notorious website for leaking some latest movies online. Reportedly, two members associated with the notorious Tamil Rockers website were nabbed in the city for allegedly creating pirated copies of several latest movies, including Tovino Thomas' ARM and Rajinikanth starrer Vettaiyan.

The arrested persons were identified as Praveen Kumar (30) and Kumareshan (29). The suspect belong to Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu. They were arrested from Bengaluru. Cyber police also shut down the operations of their website named onetamilmv.

What does the Cinematograph Act say about piracy?

Piracy is punishable by law under the Copyright Act and the Cinematograph Act. It was amended in 2023. It is said that the film industry faces losses of up to ₹20,000 crore every year due to piracy. Violation of the act can lead to a hefty fine, jail term or both. Arrest under certain sections of the act is a non-bailable offence.

Police nab men creating copies of Vettaiyan, ARM

According to police, Praveen Kumar and Kumareshan created the pirated copy of the Malayalam hit ARM from a theatre in Coimbatore. In Bengaluru, they also created and uploaded a pirated version of Rajinikanth's Vettaiyan, which was released on Thursday, October 10.

After arrest, the two were brought to Kochi. A senior officer said the accused used to upload the films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and other languages to their website as soon as the films were released in cinema halls. Police said that prima facie, the accused earned revenue from advertisements on the website. Officials said that an investigation was ongoing to identify if more persons were connected to the racket.