Piracy king has tentacles spread all over

After exposing how easy it is to obtain a movie CD even before the film hits theatres, CNN-IBN's Special Investigation Team (SIT) shows how the trade of piracy is flourishing in the heart of the Capital.

Jasbir Gill, according to CNN-IBN's sources, is one of the biggest operators in Delhi's film piracy network. Gill runs shop No M-12 at Palika Bazaar, Delhi's infamous electronics goods market. His shop is the nerve centre of Delhi's blue film and pirated film distribution network.

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On a certain day at around 1000 hours (IST), the sources led the Special Investigation Team to Gill's residence only to find men carrying brown boxes and loading them into Gill's car.
The boxes contained freshly burned or recorded pirated films - an operation that takes place round-the clock in the basement of Gill's home. Gill has a rack of 22 CD burners, employed to mass-produce pirated CDs. His basement is stacked to the ceiling with blank CDs, on to which pirated films are recorded.

After the men loaded the boxes, Jasbir Gill emerged from his house and drove off with his latest consignment. The CNN-IBN team decided to follow his car. The trail led to Gate No1 of Delhi's Palika Bazaar, exactly where the CNN-IBN sources had pointed their fingers.
As Gill arrived at the spot with many boxes containing hundreds of such CDs, he started handing over the packages to some people who looked liked his own men. They then went ahead to distribute the same to various shops in Palika Bazaar.

The cost of an original CD is anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 250, while the pirated versions sell for half that price - and that is what makes film piracy a lucrative business - the low cost of the movie CDs.

The CDs cost less because:
Cost of Blank CD - Rs 10
Cost of Inlay Card - Rs 4
Cost of Cover - Rs 1
Cost of Burning - Rs 1
Total Cost - Rs 16

The sources told CNN-IBN's Special Investigation Team that as many as 200 shops in Palika Bazaar deal in such pirated CDs. And each retailer makes around Rs 5 lakh per month from this grey business.