The anti-piracy cell of Kerala Police, probing the piracy of hit Malayalam film 'Premam', today seized the censor copy of the film from the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) office here.
The cell had last night given the Censor Board officials a deadline till noon today to hand over the copy.
The Anti-Piracy cell officials said the copy was seized when the board officials failed to hand it over.
The Officials said the Board had been given notice two days ago to submit the copy as early as possible.
Though they refused at first, the board officials later agreed to hand it over with some conditions, they said, adding, the copy was 'material evidence' in the case.
So far three teenagers, aged 15-19 and hailing from Kollam who had uploaded the pirated CD on the internet have been arrested. Several persons involved in the making of the film have been questioned.
The probe in the case began after the film's producer, Anwar Rasheed filed an email complaint when pirated versions appeared on the internet, eating into the revenues of the film, which was running into packed houses until then.
The Anti-Piracy cell officials have also recorded the statement of director Alphonse Puthren from Kochi.
The issue also had its echo in the assembly with Home minister Ramesh Chennithala stating that the government had decided to strengthen the anti piracy cell to crack down on the illegal distribution of movies on print, videos and electronic files in the internet and social media.
