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| Sunday, 22 August 2004 |
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Police seize pirated cassettes of popular Sinhala films by Lakmal Welabada Illegal VCDs and DVDs of famous Sinhala films 'Sooriya Arana' (Fire Fighters) and 'Aadaraneeya Vassanaya' (Love in Autumn) have been seized by the police on raids conducted on various video outlets during the past three weeks. At a press briefing held at the Sri Lanka Film Corporation last week, SSP Sarath Lugoda, Colombo Crime Division, said that the police was able to recover about 60,000 illegal VCDs and DVDs at the video outlets at Malwatta Road, Pettah, Bambalapitiya, Mathugama, Ratnapura and Maharagama. "A place at a Cross Road in Pettah which had been illegally producing these items was also among the list of raided spots. A vendor who was openly selling illegal VCDs and DVDs of the two films at the National Public Library was also arrested. The others who were taken into custody along with the illegal stuff will be produced before courts shortly," he said. It was revealed that the illegal productions of the film 'Sooriya Arana' had authentic letters stating that the film belonged to the Public Censor Board. This had led to the suspicion whether the film had been copied from the VCD handed over to the Public Censor Board by its producer before it was released in January. "How it had reached the wrong hands was the question," said Somaratne Dissanayaka, Director of 'Sooriya Arana' Attorney-at-Law Asoka Serasinghe said that the accused would be liable for a six months imprisonment and Rs,500,000 fine if found guilty, under the Intellectual Property Act. Serasinghe and Lugoda said that those in possession of these illegal VCDs and DVDs could also be charged under this Act. Senesh Bandara, Director of 'Aadaraneeiya Vassanaya' said that he knew certain Sri Lankans who had bought these VCDs and DVDs when they were returning from abroad. "They had bought them from a video outlet in a foreign country. How did these films go out of the country so soon without our knowledge is a big question," he said. SSP Lugoda appealed to the public to provide any relevant information to him personally on telephone- 2662323 or to the Crime Branch- 2662311. |
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