CD pirates under police watch

KOCHI: With the rise in the number of cases related to CD piracy in the city, the police and the cyber cell are monitoring those behind the illegal trade. The shadow police had caught several persons selling pirated CDs recently.According to cyber cell sources, cases of CD piracy have gone up recently. “We are tracking down those behind the illegal activity,” sources said. “Piracy cases have gone up these days. The scene has changed now. Earlier, pirated CDs were made in secret centres based in Fort Kochi and Mattanchery. But this has changed. Now, the CDs are being pirated in secret places spread all across the city. The cyber cell has been tracing such cases and handing over the information to the city police. They are also assisting the anti-piracy cell in this regard,” cyber cell sources said. According to M N Ramesh, Assistant Commissioner, Special Branch, the modus operandi of the piracy lobby is simple. They form a close group of college students and later encourage them to take up the sale of pirated videos. The group will deliver the CDs at the place without even leaving any clue to the monitoring agencies. “The piracy lobby has spread its tentacles by now. We have caught several persons and are monitoring some of them. Besides CDs of films, the mafia also makes pornographic CDs. Now piracy is being done in houses also,” M N Ramesh said. Sources in the film industry said the piracy lobby is active and doing brisk business in the city. A producer said on condition of anonymity  that police action against the menace was not consistent. “Raids are held once in a while. The special cell created to curb piracy has become defunct,” he said. Owing to piracy, film producers are losing several crores of rupees. “Though the government had formed an anti-piracy cell, its activities are  based in Thiruvananthapuram. In Kochi, the local police are taking action against the piracy lobby but this is not enough. There are underground activities going on in the city which are yet to be unearthed,” the producer said.