Punjab man arrested for making pirated CDs

Chandigarh, Jan 9 (IANS) One person was arrested Wednesday for making illegal CDs and DVDs of newly released films after the Punjab police, acting on a tip-off from representatives of the Indian Music Industry (IMI), conducted a raid in a Punjab town.

The police arrested Harvinder Kumar from Kharar town, 15 km from here in Mohali district.

The raiding party included police officials and IMI representatives. A CD recorder unit was recovered along with seven DVD writers and hundreds of DVDs, CDs and VCDs.

'The software recovered from the raid shows at what scale this racket was operating in Punjab,' an IMI official said.

Among the DVD and VCDs of films recovered were those of recent releases like 'Saawariya', 'Welcome' and 'Awarapan'.

'This has been among the biggest raids that IMI has conducted in the state of Punjab. The Indian music industry is suffering from huge losses because of piracy,' IMI president Vijay Lazarus said.

'It not only hurts commercial interests of licensed manufacturers but also has the potential of damaging the country's economic and social fabric. Such raids not only prove to be a benefit for the industry but also boost the morale of artists,' he said.

The IMI is a consortium of over 100 music companies including several prominent regional and national labels - representing over 75 percent output in legitimate music and film recordings.