A 31-year-old man from Chennai was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on Tuesday for allegedly watching a leaked copy of the Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan while on duty at an EVM counting centre at Anna University.
The accused, identified as T Yuvaraj from Thiruvarur district, had been deployed by a private firm to oversee CCTV surveillance at the high-security facility. The centre stores Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for five Assembly constituencies, including Mylapore and T Nagar.
The police noted that Yuvaraj shared a photograph on social media of himself watching the pirated film on a laptop inside the control room. He had also reportedly posted an image of his official Election Commission identity card.
Preliminary inquiries found that Yuvaraj had downloaded the leaked content during his night shift on April 23.
Last week, film editor Pradeep E Raghav was suspended by the Southern India Film Editors’ Association for allegedly violating union bylaws and failing to prevent the illegal online leak of the Vijay-starrer.
Regarding the piracy of Jana Nayagan, the association noted that while Raghav may not have been directly behind the unauthorised release, he admitted to lapses of “negligence” that contributed to it.
Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing arrested three main accused, including a freelance assistant editor, in connection with the illegal circulation of leaked content from Jana Nayagan, the police said in a statement.
According to an official statement, the arrests took place on April 15 after a thorough technical review and analysis of digital evidence.
Issuing a public advisory, the Cyber Crime Wing strictly warned against downloading, streaming, or forwarding pirated content, stating that any involvement in digital piracy will invite strict legal consequences.
Following the leak, Tamil industry stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Suriya and Sivakarthikeyan expressed their shock and called for stricter measures against piracy
Directed by H. Vinoth and produced by KVN Productions, Jana Nayagan also features Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol and Mamitha Baiju, alongside Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain and Priyamani.
Billed as Vijay’s final film before his political entry, the political thriller was initially slated for release on January 9 but was postponed after the Central Board of Film Certification did not certify it on time.
