Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar has finally reacted to the shocking hard disk theft case involving the production company Tiger Baby Digital LLP, co-founded by her and filmmaker Reema Kagti. The disappearance of 66 hard disks reportedly containing sensitive production data has raised concerns in the entertainment industry.
Exclusive: Zoya Akhtar confirms office robbery after 66 hard disks go missing; Says, “Luckily we have backup files of everything”
speaking specifically toZoya Akhtar confirmed the robbery and said that currently the police investigation of the case is going on. Addressing the situation he said, “Yes, there has been a robbery in my office, the hard disk has been stolen. We have filed a complaint and the police have also made some arrests. This is an inside job, it is sad what lengths people go to to make money.”
However, the filmmaker also revealed that the production house had kept backup copies of the stolen content safe. He added, “Luckily we have backup files of everything.”
According to reports, the complaint was filed by Mehjabeen Mushtaq Shaikh, who works as an executive assistant and HR administrator at Tiger Baby Digital LLP. Following the complaint, Bandra Police registered an FIR against Mohammad Shahid Azim Khan and Ritesh Suresh Shah. The accused were later arrested and sent to police custody till May 29.
The issue reportedly came to light on May 21 when company employees failed to locate several hard disks needed for ongoing projects. An internal inspection reportedly revealed several damaged storage boxes and empty bins within the office premises.
There were reportedly 119 hard disks listed in the production company’s inventory, of which 66 were found missing. The missing drives are believed to have contained massive amounts of production-related data, with storage capacities ranging from 16TB to 72TB.
Investigators suspect that the stolen drive contained raw footage, edited scenes, post-production files, archival backups, advertising campaign materials and unreleased material associated with films and OTT projects. Reports also suggest that some of the data was linked to popular projects like Made in Heaven and Ghost Stories.
Police officials reportedly said that one of the accused has confessed to stealing several hard disks in the last few months and allegedly selling them in the gray market. Authorities are now investigating whether any of the stolen data was copied, leaked or disseminated online before the drive disappeared.
