Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a case against three private individuals and several unknown individuals, including officials of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), in connection with actor Vishal's claim that he had to pay a bribe of 6.5 lakh to obtain a censor certificate for the Hindi version of his film, Mark Antony. The Hindi version of the film was released on September 28.
The CBI released a statement in which it said that "a private person entered a conspiracy with others during the month of September, 2023, to obtain a bribe of Rs. 7,00,000/- & to get the necessary censor certificate from CBFC, Mumbai for a movie dubbed in Hindi."
The statement continued, "It was further alleged that in furtherance of the said conspiracy, she initially demanded bribe on behalf of CBFC Mumbai officials in the amount of Rs. 7,00,000/- from the Complainant and later after negotiation, she allegedly accepted Rs. 6,54,000/- as bribe on behalf of CBFC Mumbai officials in two bank accounts of other two accused."
The accused allegedly received 20,000 from a private company to deposit into her bank account, according to the agency. Four locations in Mumbai that were connected to the accused and other people were searched by CBI, wherein incriminating documents were found. Rajan M., Merlin Menaga, and Jeeja Ramdas have all been detained in the case.
This comes after actor Vishal took to his X account, formerly known as Twitter, on September 29 alleging corruption at the film board. "It's acceptable for corruption to be depicted on film. But in actuality, no. unable to digest. more so in government offices. Even worse is taking place in the CBFC Mumbai headquarters. Had to pay 6.5 lacs for the Hindi version of my film, #MarkAntony," he claimed.
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