A Censor board officer who had been demanding a bribe for certifying a Kannada movie has been arrested from Malleswara’s SRV Studio in Bengaluru. The officer, named Prashant Kumar, fell into the trap of the CBI, caught in the act while accepting the bribe at Malleswara’s SRV Studio. He was caught accepting Rs 12,000.
Filmmaker Tiger Nag has directed and produced a movie named Adavi and has said that he was being denied a censor certificate for many days. He added that the accused would keep demanding money to issue the certificate.
Prashant Kumar, the censor officer, is alleged to have amassed money by going after up-and-coming filmmakers. Tiger Nag, a social activist filmmaker and producer, lodged a complaint with the CBI after he became frustrated with the censor officer’s harassment after he had been trying for a week to obtain a censor certificate for the film Adavi.
CBI decided to lay a trap and asked Tiger Nag to go ahead with the bribe. Based on the complaint, the officers raided the studio at 6 PM on November 28 and walked in on Prashant while he was accepting the Rs 12,000. More than ten officers came in civil dress and took Prashant Kumar into custody.
This incident jogs memories from almost 9 years ago when the CEO of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was arrested for bribery in 2014. It had made very big news at that time. Rakesh Kumar was detained by the CBI for accepting a bribe of Rs 70,000 to have a movie cleared. Agent Shripati Mishra and member of the Censor Board advisory panel Sarvesh Jaiswal were taken into custody after the agency raided Kumar’s home. According to the sources, they were apprehended while accepting the purported bribe on Kumar’s behalf.
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