Hyderabad Censor Board Regional officer in CBI net

Following a complaint by producer P.D.R. Prasad Reddy from Kakinada, the CBI laid a trap and caught Mr Srinivasa Rao in his chambers in the CBFC office at Samachar Bhavan in Masab Tank on Friday evening.

C. Ananthashree, a mediator claiming to be a production manager, was also arrested for brokering the deal and for acting on behalf of the accused officer.

According to CBI deputy inspector general V. Chandrasekhar, the film was given a ‘U/A’ certificate after accepting part of the bribe and the CBFC RO had initially threatened to give an “A” certificate if the bribe is not paid.

A CBI official said, “Usually the advisory panel members of the Board — four at a time, including two men and two women — watch a movie along with the RO and suggest cuts and deletions. The RO’s office processes this later and the certificate is signed by the RO and issued. In this case there was no role of the advisory panel members but we will investigate further. RO and the mediator are involved.”

The official added, “The RO demands Rs 1 lakh per movie from big budget filmmakers otherwise they end up with ‘A’ certificates. Though this is a small budget film, the producer was pestered by the officials for a bribe.”The complainant producer Mr Prasad Reddy told this newspaper over phone: “For the past one and a half months, the RO was making me do the rounds of his office. Though a DD was paid requesting for censorship of the film, they started harassing me without accepting (the film) for a preview. When I told RO Srinivasa Rao that once Baahubali is released, I would not get theatres and would end up with huge losses, he didn’t show any mercy. Instead, he told me to pray to God that Baahubali is removed from the screens. As per my information, for small budget films they demand Rs 1 lakh and for big budget films the rate goes up to Rs 5 lakh.” He added, “The RO himself demanded the money. Initially, I approached the state ACB. However, they directed me to the CBI.”