Four people in India have been arrested for leaking online an episode of "Game of Thrones," according to international news outlets.

Agence France Presse reports that police in Mumbai, India have detained four people in connection with the leak of the fourth episode of the current seventh season of "Game of Thrones," which appeared online days before its scheduled U.S. air date of August 6. The episode, titled "Spoils of War," was stamped with the Star India watermark, leading authorities to zero in on those connected to that company, which distributes the hit series for HBO in India.

According to The Economic Times, the leak was traced to employees -- both current and former -- of Prime Focus Technologies, a company that Star India contracts to manage its data. Local police told AFP that the alleged hackers have been "accused of criminal breach of trust and computer-related offences" and remain in custody while the investigation unfolds.

The Economic Times reports:

Star India and its subsidiary Novi Digital (Hotstar), said in a statement that this is the first time in the history of the companies that an incident of this nature has occurred. "We are deeply grateful to the police for their swift and prompt action. We believe that valuable intellectual property is a critical part of the development of the creative industry and strict enforcement of the law is essential to protecting it. We at Star India and Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited stand committed and ready to help the law enforcement agencies with any technical assistance and help they may require in taking the investigation to its logical conclusion," it said.

Despite the leak, "Spoils of War" went on to become the series's most-watched episode ever, scoring a whopping 10.17 million viewers.

The troubles aren't over for HBO, though. This leak is unrelated to the ongoing leak of sensitive internal information and entire seasons of original programming that's been seeping out for weeks now. HBO has already declared that it will not negotiate with those hackers.

[via: Agence France Presse, The Economic Times, h/t Entertainment Weekly, Variety]