HYDERABAD CYBER CRIME POLICE BUST THE MAJOR NETWORK OF MOVIE PIRACY RING AND ARREST FIVE KEY ACCUSED
Piracy significantly impacts the Indian film industry, causing substantial financial losses and hindering its growth. In 2023, the Indian entertainment industry suffered an estimated ₹22,400 Crore loss due to piracy. This includes losses due to pirated content from both the movie theaters and the OTŠ¢ platforms.
WHY PIRACY:
People want to watch the content immediately after it is released
Usually there is a window of 6-8 weeks for the OTT release and people won’t wait for that long
Producers spend years creating a movie, hiring actors, renting equipment, and promoting the film by putting their heart and soul with their hard eared money. Before they could even fully market or monetize, pirated films are released and eat into their rightful revenues.
Hundreds and thousands of people like the daily wage workers, junior artists, technicians, etc. and in fact the entire film industry is affected.
There is a misconception that pirated content is free. It is a fallacy. There is nothing free in the world. The ‘free’ pirated content comes with a huge cost. Piracy is used as bait, as a trap to steal people’s identities, to infringe on data privacy, to spread malware, which will then lead to online fraud, financial scams and other Cyber Crimes.
The Cyber Crime Police of Hyderabad has successfully dismantled the major movie piracy racket by arresting five (5) key individuals involved in the illegal distribution of copyrighted films and issuing notices to 5 individuals for aiding and abetting the fraud. These arrests are the sequel of comprehensive investigation into the piracy of several new Telugu films including "HIT: The Third Case", "#Single", “Kuberaa” and “Hari Hara Veera Mallu” which have been uploaded onto the illegal websites: 1TamilBlasters, 5MoviezRulz, and 1TamilMV
CASE DETAILS AND INVESTIGATION :
On 05.06.2025 at 1200 hours, a complaint was filed by Sri Yarra Manindra Babu, representing the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), Hyderabad. He reported that the Telugu film "#Single" (released on May 9, 2025), Hit the third case (released on 1st May 2025) has been pirated and illegally circulated online on the very first day of the movie release. The pirated HD versions were traced to popular piracy platforms like 1TamilBlasters, 5MoviezRulz, and 1TamilMV. The preliminary findings of forensic watermarking pointed towards leakage from the theatre.
On the above complaint, a case under Cr.No. 1042/2025 under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (E) IT Act, Sec. 318 (4) r/w 3 (5), 338 BNS, Sec. 63 and 65 of the Copyright Act, Sec. 6-AA, 6AB and 7(1A) of Cinematograph Act, 1952 (2008) has been registered and investigated by the Cyber Crime P.S.
Further, another case under Cr. No 1292/2025 under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (E) IT Act, Sec. 318 (4) r/w 3 (5), 338 BNS, Sec. 63 and 65 of the Copyright Act, Sec. 6-AA, 6AB and 7(1A) of Cinematograph Act, 1952 (2008) was also registered and investigated by the Cyber crime P.S, based on the complaint of the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), who alleged that the Telugu film "Kubera" was also pirated and uploaded onto the websites like 1TamilBlasters on the same day of the release of the movie.
During the course of investigation, the following persons have been identified as the prime accused
1. Ashwani Kumar, S/o Pankaj Kumar Singh, Age: 21 Years, R/o H No. 8, Sampathchak, Sampatchak Bairiya, Gulzar Bagh, Bihar. (Arrested on 11-08-2025)
2. Cyril Infant Raj Amaladoss, S/o Amaladoss, Age: 32 years, Occ: Crypto Trader, R/o: 86, 4th Cross, Veluswamy Puram, Karur, Karur Dist., Tamil Nadu State. (Arrested on 28-07-2025)
3. Jana Kiran Kumar, S/o Late Naga Malleshwar Rao, Age: 29 Yrs, Occ: AC Technician, R/o: H. No: B-1354, NGOs Colony, Vanastalipuram, R.R. Dist., N/o Amalapuram Mandal, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. (Arrested on 30-06-2025)
4. Sudhakaran, S/o Late Ponnu swamy, age: 31 years, R/o: AP Swamy apartment, VIP nagar, Court Road, Satyamangalam, Erode Dist, Tamilnadu State. (Arrested on 13-08-2025)
5. Arsalan Ahmed, S/o Naushad Ahmed, Age: 23 years, Occ: Student, N/o. Naga Masjid, Curti, Near Fathima High School, Ponda, North Goa- 403401, R/o New Mohalla, Gadediya Khand, Fida Hussain Road, Jehanabad, Bihar. (Arrested on 11-08-2025)
THE MODUS OPERANDI:-
PIRACY IN TWO WAYS:
Movie piracy is taking place mainly in two ways. One method is the leakage of HD copy of the movie from the digital service providers and the other is through the Cam releases which involve camcorder recording of the on-screen projection of a movie in a theatre on the very first day of screening by individuals using the handheld cameras, smart phones, or even hidden recording devices. This enables groups to pirate movies which are in their theatrical period and not released for personal entertainment.
In other words through the Cam rips (recorded in theaters), leaked studio copies or hacked distribution channels.
Mode of transfer of the pirated movies:-
Illegal copying/distribution of copyrighted movies via torrents/websites
Common platforms used: - Torrent websites, Telegram channels, illegal streaming platforms
How pirated websites operate:-
Sponsored by Online Gaming / Betting website organizers to promote their platforms
Operation of the website using virtual machines to mask identity
The Accused Cyril Raj purchased two dedicated Virtual Machine Servers (with Paris Location) from one dedicated server hosting company to store all Pirated Movies, to operate the 1TamilBalster website, Telegram application, Gmail accounts, Proton mail accounts and other operations related to the website operation besides using the VMware.
HD movies have been shared from the studio copies by hacking the main servers of the digital media companies. Their main servers were hacked and accessed by the accused Ashwani Kumar and the HD Movies were shared by him with gaming, betting organizers through telegram channels..
Mode of Communication:- The accused used different Telegram channels with different user IDs for communication between (a) the persons who share the pirated or HD movie content, (b) who operate the piracy movie websites, (c) persons who check whether the websites are live or down, (d) the persons who actually upload the content on the websites, (e) the gaming/betting organizers, who sponsor and finance the entire network. They are identifying each other with the Telegram ID only.
Mode of payment: - All payments were made using the crypto wallets only, due to greater privacy and control over their financial data. They used the crypto platform to make payments and using middlemen to convert the BTC/crypto currency into USDT and into Indian rupee.
ROLE OF THE ACCUSED:
Ashwani Kumar (A-1) is the prime accused and kingpin behind the leakage of HD movies before they are even released in to the theaters. He hacked the main servers of digital media companies, copied the HD movies and sent them to the other telegram users.
1. Movies were copied from the servers of the digital media companies by hacking their servers and the same were shared with the Gaming, Betting organizers.
2. He joined the Telegram piracy groups (HDmovies, Flimyzap, World4free) which were operated by the Admin Telegram user
3. He has contacted the admin Telegram User and offered to supply the pirated HD movie copies @ $800 per movie and received the payments in Crypto.
4. He received the crypto payments through Ashmith Singh @ Noble.
o "Noble" has provided the BTC wallet address for payments.
o Gaming, Betting organizers sent $800/movie in Bitcoin
5. The Telegram group admin and associates uploaded the HD movies on the piracy websites (1TamilMV, 1TamilBlasters, Movierulz).
Cyril Infant Raj Amaladoss (A-2) is the mastermind who has engaged the other accused for cam-cording the movies in theatres and uploading the pirated content on the piracy websites.
1. He has created and managed the piracy website 1tamilblasters.net and its various extensions.
2. He has distributed the pirated content to other illegal sites like 1Tamilmv and Movierulz.
3. The accused has been operating two virtual machines besides maintaining the 1tamilblaster website, Gmail accounts, Proton mail accounts, Telegram accounts, Cloudflare, Cloudvastra server, etc..
4. He has received remuneration of $10,000 per month in crypto currency by allowing the promotional content and advertisements of the online betting and gaming sites.
5. He has coordinated with the other piracy operators and paid agents up to $150 per movie for in-theater recording of movies in multiple languages.
6. He has uploaded about 500 pirated movies since 2020 and earned about ₹2 Crores in crypto currency.
He has demanded the owners of the betting/gaming Apps such as 1xBet, 4raBet, Rajbet, and Parimatch for increasing the monthly remuneration to $30,000.
Sudhakaran (A-3):
1. Joined the a Telegram group that provided instructions on illegal
recording of movies in theaters and uploading the pirated film.
2. He has accessed the popular piracy website 1tamilmv. and interacted with the admins through the chat box.
3. First Assignment: Cam-corded the movie "NAAI SEKAR" in SRK Theatre, Coimbatore, uploaded the recorded movie thro' WeTransfer and shared the link in the chat box of 1tamilmv.com website.
4. He received the crypto payments to his Blockchain.com Wallet.
5. He has recorded and uploaded 35 South Indian films across:
o Tamil (ARM, VEZHAM, Varalaru Mukkiyam, Kuruthi Aattam, Sinam)
o Telugu (Radhe Shyam, Dasara, Lucky Baskhar, Daaku Maharaj)
o Kannada & Malayalam films (specific titles not mentioned).
Jana Kiran Kumar (A-4) :
1. Contacted the piracy group 1TamilMV and offered to record the new Telugu films in theatres.
2. Used his iPhone 14 Plus, concealed it in his shirt pocket and recorded movies in theaters by booking tickets on BookMyShow platform.
3. Shared the pirated files with his handlers on Telegram.
4. Received payments of $300-$400 per movie in Bitcoin, which he then converted in to Indian Rupees using the crypto currency trading platforms.
5. Recorded about 100 movies in theatres in Hyderabad including the film "#Single" (released on May 9, 2025) at Cinepolis, Mantra Mall, Attapur.
Arsalan Ahmed (A-5):
He along with his associates Asghar & Ranveer recorded movies in theaters using the mobile phones.
• He has uploaded the large files of pirated movies on the website SendGB.com (file sharing site), received unique links for the uploaded files and shared those links on the Telegram to the A2 Cyril Infant Raj (Andy JS is the Telegram handle).
• He received $135 USDT per movie from Cyril infant Raj to his Binance wallet.
SEIZURES MADE:
The IO seized several electronic items such as the CPU, a tablet, Hard disks, mobile phones, laptops, dongles, pen drives, web cam, memory cards and processors which were being used by the arrested accused in the commission of offence.
INVESTIGATION TEAM
The following officers of CCPS are the members of Investigation Team.
1. Sri. S. Naresh, Inspector of Police.
2. Sri. Suresh, SI and team,
3. Sri Satish Reddy, Inspector of Police
4. Sri. B Manmohan Goud, SI
5. Sri. N. Dileep Kumar, Inspector of Police
6. Sri. B. Manmohan Goud, SI
7. Sri. K. Madhusudhan Rao, Inspector of Police,
8. Sri. Mahipal, SI
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) played a pivotal role in aiding our investigation by facilitating access to the Samanvaya portal, which enabled us to get the details of the crypto currency wallets used in the money trail. This proved to be an invaluable resource, allowing us to track and dissect the complex flow of funds, ultimately shedding light on the case and significantly advancing our investigative efforts.
PUBLIC ADVISORY:
The Public is reminded that movie piracy is a serious criminal offence under the Copyright Act of 1957 & Cinematograph Amendment Act, 2023.
Engaging in or supporting piracy, including recording or sharing pirated content can lead to imprisonment up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to Rs. 2,00,000.
The public is urged not to fall prey for the online gaming and betting Apps and websites promoted through their advertisements on pirated movies or scrolling ads, as it may lead to theft of identities, to infringe on your data privacy, to spread malware, which will then lead to online fraud, financial scams and other Cyber Crimes.
As per the Telangana Gaming (Amendment) Act, 2017, playing games or betting with money at stake is an offence in Telangana.
The public is urged to refrain from engaging in any form of movie piracy and to report any suspicious activity to the local police authorities or the Cyber Crime cells.
ADVISORY TO THE PRODUCERS / CREATORS:
The production team must be more vigilant while making and distributing the content.
The production team must use robust forensics and water markings to track the origin of Piracy.
ADVISORY TO CINEMA THEATRES AND MULTIPLEXES:
They must deploy adequate and additional manpower at cinemas to strictly deter cine goers from recording movies inside the auditoriums.
Cam-cording is the 2nd biggest threat to the Film Industry.
ADVISORY TO HOSTING COMPANIES, ISPs AND INTERMEDIARIES :
Be Vigilant against Criminals using your services to engage in Digital Piracy.
Intermediaries cannot shy away from your responsibility.
Once you are notified about any illegal activity like Digital Piracy, you must be proactive in flagging them and engage with the stakeholders in rooting them out. Your inaction is costing the creative economy and the social well being of the public.
ADVISORY TO THE DIGITAL MEDIA COMPANIES:
They are handling the Copyrighted Content worth hundreds of Crores every week. They must deploy superior security protocols in their servers, systems and processes.
They must engage qualified resources to remain vigilant at all times against any kind of compromise in server security protocols.
The HD content leakages are the No. 1 threat to the Film Industry and all creators. The Cyber Security measures, such as firewalls, should be strengthened to prevent server hacking.
Digital cinema Systems need to implement censoring technologies in cinema theaters to detect/prevent the use of movie recording devices.
Both Digital Cinema Companies and Cinema Theatres are an integral part of Cinema eco system. Their survival is directly and critically linked to the survival of Cinema. So they must do whatever it takes to protect the Cinema from Digital Piracy.
THE FINAL WORD:
The Hyderabad Cyber Police and the Government of Telangana have always been in the forefront in the fight against Piracy.
Most significant breakthroughs in the fight against Piracy in the entire country, were achieved through the efforts of Hyderabad and Telangana Police.
This particular breakthrough has exposed the Pirates of NOT just Telugu Cinema but Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bollywood and Hollywood Cinema as well.
The Industry and Law Enforcement Agencies should work closely for the sustained results.
All stakeholders must constantly be vigilant and gain knowledge of evolving technologies that enable digital piracy and take urgent measures to stop it.
In this day and age, by refraining from digital piracy, the Public is NOT ONLY securing the Creators and Creative Fraternity from irreparable losses, but they are securing their own families and personal interests from the Cyber Criminals.
Note: If you have been victim of any financial Cyber Crime fraud,
call 1930 without delay, so that your money can be saved.
Cyber Crime Helpline No. 1930
(C.V.ANAND)
DG & Commissioner of Police,
Hyderabad
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