bangalore bangalore is emerging as a major conduit for pirated vcds dvds mp3 video and audio cassettes if police records over the last two years are any indication pirated goods worth rs 2 crore have been seized in three raids in july and august this yearinterestingly pirated goods were seized following tipoff from the members of music industry who have employed retired police officers to glean information on piracy rackets and not due to the intelligence network of the city policeshops in national market burma bazaar and on sp road brigade road and commercial street sell pirated dvds vcds and video cassettes old as well as newly released movies are available here for rs 80 you can take away a vcd of hindi movie devdas the business is over the counter for there is no fear of lawenforcing agencies among the shopkeepers said nm rajasekhar a citybased advocate who works for a reputed music companythere have been frequent raids on such shops but with little or no results shops are closed for a few days after the raid and then resume business blame should be put on police rajasekhar addeda particular shop on sp road recently raided by kamakshipalya and vyalikaval police who seized fake goods worth lakhs of rupees is back in business early this month the upparpet police raided the godown of the same shop and seized pirated cassettes worth over rs 15 crore yet the owner is unfazedingenuity being their middle name the kingpins behind the racket surrender before the police only after securing anticipatory bail but those employed in the shops suffer the worst by serving a jail termsince the vigilance by the police is virtually nonexistent the music industry people are engaging the services of retired police officers known for their investigative skills to keep tabs on grey market a senior police officer said these officers tip off the policemen and organise raids this system is yielding resultsrajasekhar said it was unfortunate that the police had to depend on retired officers for leads even when shops selling fake cassettes on sp road were situated in the vicinity of sj park and ulsoor gate police stationsa senior police officer however retorted we are busy with law and order vvip security crime detection and prevention among other things we conduct raids as soon as were tipped off