A freelance editor from Chennai, D Uma Shankar, has filed for anticipatory bail at the Madras High Court, claiming he had no involvement in the leak of Vijay's Jana Nayagan. Uma Shankar's name surfaced in the confession of one of the accused arrested earlier by the Chennai Cyber Crime police, as reported by The Hindu.

Last week, the Cyber Crime police arrested three individuals, including a freelance editor allegedly involved in illegally accessing and distributing the film's footage. While Uma Shankar's direct role is yet to be established, the government counsel confirmed that the police are actively probing his alleged connection.

Uma Shankar, who claims to be a heart patient, alleged that he and his family have been continuously harassed by the police following the FIR filed by the Ashok Nagar police. He maintained that he neither acquired nor watched any footage from Jana Nayagan and expressed willingness to cooperate with the investigation. KVN Productions' counsel argued against the plea, and the court has scheduled the next hearing for April 30.

Since the initial leak on April 9, nine people have been arrested in total — six initially, followed by three more. On April 14, a Coimbatore cable operator was also arrested for broadcasting a pirated version of the film. The leak drew strong condemnation from across the film industry, with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Chiranjeevi, and Rishab Shetty among those voicing their support for the makers.

Written and directed by H Vinoth, Jana Nayagan marks Vijay's final film before his full-time shift to politics, also starring Pooja Hegde, Mamitha Baiju, and Bobby Deol.