At least 16 people have been arrested in Chennai, India on Sunday for indulging in Baahubali 2 (Bahubali 2) piracy. The police are also looking out for other people in connection with the piracy of the movie.
Baahubali 2, one of the most anticipated movie of 2017, had emerged online hours after the movie was screened abroad. Many torrent sites, including Tamilrockers, had uploaded the complete movie with prints of varying quality online.
Vishal, the president of Producers' Council in Chennai and the secretary of the Nadigar Sangam filed a complaint about the leak and the Chennai police started investigating the matter. According to The Times of India report, police have seized 2,100 pirated DVDs of Baahubali 2 following the arrest.
"We provided the commissioner with information related to illegal uploading of the film Bahubali 2. We have identified and listed out many websites and the IP addresses from which the film was uploaded for illegal downloading," the publication quoted Vishal as saying.
Apart from the pirated Baahubali 2 copies, the police have also seized the pirated DVDs of some other recently-released movies of South-Indian superstars, including Vijay Sethupathi's Kavan, Nayanthara's Dora and Dhanush's Pa Paandi.
In the complaint, Vishal has specifically mentioned that the Tamilrockers torrent site was allowing the illegal uploading on its site. He was seen raising his voice against the site in several earlier occasions as well. Vishal had promised to get it shut since it was taking a toll on the business of the film industry. The illegal screening by cable operators was also brought to the police's attention by him.
Meanwhile, Baahubali 2 has crossed Rs. 1,000 crore mark at the worldwide box office in nine days creating a history.