Spar over online leak of Udta Punjab, cops get leads

 After being locked in a bitter censorship row, the drug-themed Bollywood film ‘Udta Punjab’ will hit the screens as scheduled on Friday with the Supreme Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court paving the way for its release, but its online leak has sparked a fresh spat. A case had been registered and the police claim to have obtained “some leads” in matter.

Anurag Kashyap, the film’s co-producer who has been at the forefront of a battle with the Censor Board, and several filmmakers also appealed to people not to watch it online.

As the film is set hit the theatres on Friday, its online leak has prompted Kashyap to say that he believed it was a case of vested interests “trying to demoralise” the filmmakers in their fight. The film’s producers on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police in Bandra.

The entire film has been leaked on various torrent websites with ‘for censor’ written on the top left corner of the copy, as questions cropped about any role by the Censor Board in this regard.

“I am not sure whether it was a CBFC copy. But if it’s a censor copy then it’s a shame on CBFC, it reflects very badly on them. Piracy is an issue, which we all have been fighting for a very long time,” superstar Aamir Khan said.

CBFC chief Pahlaj Nahalani, on his part, said “rumours” about the online leak should not be believed. “Please understand the procedure rather than believing in rumours,” he said.

Meanwhile, investigators have obtained “some leads” in the online leakage case of the film, a senior police officer said. “A team of our cyber cell experts is working on the case. Very soon we will find out the people responsible for illegally releasing the video online. Legal action will be initiated against whosoever is found guilty,” Mumbai Police spokesperson Ashoke Dudhe said.

Dudhe said a case under relevant Sections of the Companies Act and IT Act has been registered. “We are investigating the case as per the legal provisions. We have got some leads, but there is no suspect (identified) yet,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dudhe refuted the report that a person has been detained in connection with the case. “It is not possible at this stage to comment on how many persons could be behind the incident, the spokesperson said.

The Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh-starrer that delves into how a large number of youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs had also triggered a political slugfest and multiple legal battles.