24 April,2026 07:46 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Thalapathy Vijay in Jana Nayagan
The South Indian Film Editors Association has suspended editor Pradeep E Raghav over allegations of breaching its bylaws and showing negligence in projects he worked on, including the film Jana Nayagan. The Association stated that his actions amount to a violation of its statutory regulations, particularly in connection with an online film leak. The Association released an official statement in this regard.
In an official statement, the Association said its Executive Committee found that Raghav had repeatedly ignored its rules by employing non-members as assistants across several projects, including Jana Nayagan. This, it noted, was a clear breach of its regulations.
The statement also referred to the illegal online leak of Jana Nayagan, clarifying that while Raghav was not directly responsible, he had acknowledged that his negligence played a role in the incident.
Describing the matter as serious, the Association warned that such lapses could pose a wider risk to the film industry if not addressed. It stressed its duty to ensure such incidents do not recur.
Following discussions at an emergency Executive Committee meeting on April 17, attended by senior members and prominent editors, the Association decided to suspend Raghav in order to maintain industry standards and protect its institutional integrity.
During the suspension, the Association will withdraw all cooperation from Raghav and has called on other industry bodies to back its decision.
In a statement, the State Cyber Crime Wing said that it had arrested three more people, as part of its continued crackdown in the case. The statement read, "Following the six arrests of accused involved in the dissemination and uploading of the pirated content, three main accused are arrested." The Cyber Crime Wing further added that the arrests were carried out based on a detailed technical analysis and examination of digital evidence. The three accused of the crime were arrested for their involvement in data theft and the dissemination of a pirated copy of the film.
Sharing more details of the crime, the police said, "The main accused was working as a freelance assistant editor for another movie. However, he unauthorisedly gained access to the reels of Jana Nayagan movie (starring Thalapathy Vijay) at the editing studio and stole it. The stolen data was then rendered into a movie and shared with the co-accused, leading to the circulation and wider dissemination of the pirated copies online."
