I&B minister visits CBFC office over 'Udta Punjab' leak row

Against the backdrop of allegations over leak of ‘Udta Punjab' movie print, the Information and Broad-casting Ministry has rushed a senior official to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) office in Mumbai. Sources said Joint secretary (films) Sanjay Murthy is in Mumbai and has visited the office of CBFC, also known as censor board.

There have been allegations that the censor board's copy of the movie prints may have been leaked. The ministry has been watching these developments, officials said. The movie has been the subject of a string of controversies including over cuts suggested in it by the censor board.

Meanwhile, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal yesterday, after attending a BJP programme in Thane, said the controversy surrounding the film is an attempt to malign the image of Punjab and its people. She termed infiltration as a major problem, which is taking place in spite of high vigilance on the border. "Drug abuse is not the only problem coming from the other side of the border. We have also faced problem of infiltration from the border region," Badal, an MP of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, said.

She alleged that it ("Udta Punjab" controversy) was a "clear-cut attempt to vilify the state and spread false views about it" and said, "One knows who has funded the film."

On Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi claiming that "seven out of 10" youths in Punjab were drug addicts, she said, "If this was the case, why did Congress-led governments not check the menace for so many years?"