Delhi Police arrest three students for leaking and selling paid exam videos

The Delhi Police have arrested three students in New Delhi for allegedly using an automated bot to illegally extract paid educational videos from a popular coaching centre's YouTube channel and selling them on social media. The arrests, which took place on Monday, followed a complaint from the coaching centre's director after the unauthorized distribution of over 2,400 copyrighted videos was detected.

The three accused include a 21-year-old graduate, a 23-year-old polytechnic diploma holder, and a 28-year-old B.Tech graduate. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia, the trio purchased a Telegram bot named "@RealExtractorGbot" to extract the paid modules and videos, which they then sold to students, earning more than ₹35 lakh.

The complainant, who runs a popular YouTube channel with over 400,000 subscribers paying for UPSC and other competitive exam preparation videos, first discovered the leak on March 10 last year. More than 2,400 of his educational videos had been unlawfully extracted, leaked, and uploaded on social media.

DCP Banthia stated that the unauthorized distribution of these copyrighted videos caused substantial financial and reputational loss to the coaching centre's organization. The leak affected more than 25 employees and nearly 500,000 students.

During the investigation, the Delhi Police analyzed a suspected social media ID and other involved channels. The accounts were initially found to be linked to mobile numbers located in Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

Further technical analysis led police to an Indian mobile number. Officers conducted raids in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, where the 21-year-old suspect was apprehended on June 3. Following his interrogation, his 23-year-old associate was held on June 8, and the 28-year-old suspect was nabbed the following week, leading to their formal arrests on Monday.