Delhi: A flimsy cover, crooked print, and a bargain price — if that’s the book you’re buying off the roadside or from a tucked-away shop, it’s likely a pirated copy. In a nearly 24-hour raid in Rohini, the Delhi Police busted an illegal printing press and seized over 20,000 pirated books. This marks one of the largest seizures of pirated books in the National Capital.
At the centre of the operation, conducted last week, is repeat offender Jwala Prasad, who allegedly ran a large-scale distribution network. A case has been registered under the provisions of the Copyright Act. During the search and seizure, police found evidence of an organised syndicate engaged in illegal printing, warehousing, and distribution of pirated books.
The haul included unauthorised copies of bestselling authors such as Daniel Kahneman, Arundhati Roy, Simon Sinek, Yuval Noah Harari, Haruki Murakami, and James Clear, among others.
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Tackling piracy
A statement released by Penguin Random House India termed the crackdown as a collective industry action against piracy. “Piracy is not a victimless crime—it directly impacts authors, publishers, readers, and the broader creative ecosystem,” said Manoj Satti, SVP–Product, Sales and Marketing, Penguin Random House India.
Satti added that the crackdown sends a clear message to the publishing world that such offences will be dealt with firmly. “We will continue to pursue and act against piracy networks with full force. We are grateful for the decisive action by the enforcement authorities and our partners at Simon & Schuster India in this effort. Such collaboration highlights the importance of collective industry action in tackling piracy.”
Last year in September, the crime branch of Delhi Police busted a racket in Daryaganj, seizing over 3,000 books worth over Rs 15 lakh published by Penguin Random House, and arresting three men, identified as Omkar, Deepak, and Satyam. Another raid last November across three sites in Delhi revealed two major distributors of pirated books to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)