Piracy takes aerial route

Following the crackdown on organised video/audio piracy syndicates in the city, the trans-national piracy ring operating in the city has taken the aerial route.

Following the crackdown on organised video/audio piracy syndicates in the city, the trans-national piracy ring operating in the city has taken the aerial route.

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On Wednesday, the airport police arrested a person from outside the cargo terminal and seized over 1,700 pirated DVDs including some of the recently released Hindi and Hollywood flicks, including Blue, Main Aur Mrs Khanna, Wanted and Tournament Death by Elimination.

The market price of the contraband consignment is worth over Rs 5.13 lakh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone VIII, Brijesh Singh said.

According to Singh, the airport police had been tipped off about the possible delivery of a consignment of pirated videos on October 21.

The consignment was to arrive in a Kolkata flight and the delivery was to be made near the parking lot of Golden Chariot Hotel at the domestic airport.

Around 10.45 am, a middle-aged man was seen moving about the parking lot suspiciously with two polythene bags in his hand.
A search of the bags resulted in the recovery of the pirated videos.

The man has been identified as Amjadali Wahidali Sheikh (22), a resident of Antop Hill. During interrogation, Sheikh allegedly told the police that he came to collect the consignment as per the directions of his boss Anwar, who along with
two partners, is the main supplier of pirated videos to roadside stalls outside all railway stations in the city.

He added that the DVDs had been sent by air cargo from two Kolkata-based courier firms—Royal Express Courier and Patel Courier.

DCP Singh said that efforts were on to arrest Anwar and a team has been sent to Kolkata to trace and arrest the sender of the consignment.

“The piracy syndicate has adopted an entire new modus operandi to ensure supply following increasing surveillance on their activities here,” Singh added.