Maha Movie channel CEO held in copyright violation case

Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrestedMaha Movie television channel's CEO Sanjay Verma in an allegedcopyright violation case, a police official said.

He is also a wanted accused in the alleged TelevisionRating Points (TRP) rigging scam.

Verma was apprehended by the Mumbai Police's CrimeIntelligence Unit (CIU), the official said.

A case of copyright violation was registered at Juhupolice station here and the investigation into it wastransferred to the CIU, he said.

During a probe into the case, Verma's alleged rolecame to light, following which he was questioned by a team ledby CIU in-charge assistant police inspector Sachin Waze andsubsequently placed under arrest, the official said.

During his interrogation, Verma told crime branchofficials that Maha Movie channel had illegally broadcastmovies such as ''Zanjeer'', ''Lawaris'', ''Jadugar'', ''Mohabbat KeDushman'', ''Muqaddar Ka Sikandar'' between June 10 to November10, 2020, he said.

Copyrights of these movies are with Punit Mehra'scompany, who is son of legendary film producer Prakash Mehra,the official said, adding that Mehra never sold those rightsto any other company or individuals.

Earlier, crime branch had arrested Mohammed BilalShaikh alias Raju Khan (42) and Ghanshyam Giri (42) in thecase, he said.

The official said nine more persons are wanted in thecase, including proprietor of Zoya Films, a proprietor ofSonam music company, a proprietor of VIP Films, directors ofTele-One Consumers Pvt Ltd, DV Media Entertainment Ltd andDarvi Media Entertainment Ltd.

Notably, in a chargesheet filed recently in the TRPrigging case, the police alleged that an official of HansaResearch Agency paid money to sample households to tune intoMaha Movie, Box Cinema, Fakt Marathi and Republic TV channels.

TRP, measured by recording viewership data at samplehouseholds, is crucial for attracting advertisers.

The Republic TV and others have denied any wrongdoing.

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