Help US Fight Narcotic Use for Ticket Price Hikes: CM Tells Filmmakers
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed police officials to set a precondition to filmmakers to provide a video of up to two minutes duration to the state government to promote awareness against narcotic drugs and cybercrime when they approach the government for permission for shooting or hiking ticket prices
The videos, Revanth Reddy said, should be made with the same cast who acted in the film for which permission to hike ticket prices was sought. It is a common practice for filmmakers in Telugu states to approach the state government seeking permission to increase ticket prices for a week or so, after the film's release.
After flagging off 14 new four-wheelers and 55 two-wheelers for Telangana Anti Narcotics Bureaus and Telangana Cyber Security Bureau on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said cinema theatre owners should also screen these short videos free of cost before beginning the film to promote awareness against drugs and cybercrime.
The Chief Minister said the bigwigs of the Telugu film industry, who approach the government for permission to increase ticket prices when a big-budget film is released, were not fulfilling their social responsibility to raise awareness of the menace of drugs and cybercrime.
Praising actor Chiranjeevi for taking part in a video made by the Telangana Anti Narcotics Bureau, Revanth Reddy said other film actors should come forward to fight the drug menace and cybercrime through their short videos.
He asked the Cyberabad and Rachakonda police commissioners here to place the request before filmmakers for making these videos before allowing film shoots outdoors.
"It’s not wrong for the film industry to profit from films. But they should also do their bit for the society," the Chief Minister said.
Asserting that the state government is committed to check the scourge of narcotics, Revanth Reddy urged personnel of state anti-narcotics bureau and cyber crime bureau to check the crimes effectively.
“We are among the top states in the country in freezing bank accounts of fraudsters, almost Rs.263 crore of lost amount has been frozen. As many as 36,000 SIMs, 8,300 IMEIs and 2,300 URLs/Apps have been blocked. By using state-of-art tools and technology, TGCSB has established crime links of 671 accused to almost 77,000 cybercrime cases registered across the country," Revanth Reddy said.
