iBomma founder Immadhi Ravi arrested; Hyderabad police seize Rs 3 crore, uncover Rs 20 crore piracy network

Hyderabad: Regarding the arrest of movie piracy kingpin Immadhi Ravi, the Hyderabad Police on Monday said that investigators have so far seized assets worth Rs 3 crore. Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said after his arrest, Ravi confessed to earning around Rs 20 crore through large-scale film piracy.

Ravi is said to be the alleged mastermind behind the notorious websites iBomma and Bappam TV.

Sophisticated global piracy network uncovered

Disclosing the details before the media persons, Sajjanar said Ravi, a BSc Computer Science graduate, built a well-organised piracy ecosystem starting in 2019.

His platforms ran using servers located in the US, Netherlands and Switzerland, enabling him to leak new Telugu and regional-language films within hours of release.

Ravi had acquired over 110 domain names, frequently generating mirror sites to evade government blocks. At one point, he was running around 65 mirror domains simultaneously.

High-tech methods to leak movies and OTT content

Elaborating further, the CP said that they found that Ravi relied on secret cameras to record newly released films inside theatres. He also used advanced screen-recording technology to capture OTT content and published it illegally on his platforms.

Movies such as Mirai, Dude, Kantara Chapter 1 and OG were among the titles leaked online. Police also discovered attempts by the accused to deploy malware targeting members of the film industry to extract sensitive data.

Arrest from Kukatpally after public provocation

Sajjanar said Ravi, who had earlier publicly challenged authorities to arrest him, was finally tracked down and picked up from a house in Kukatpally on November 14.

A native of Visakhapatnam, he had renounced his Indian citizenship and obtained citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, while frequently travelling across France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, the US and Dubai.

Ravi also used a fake identity, Prahlad Kumar, to obtain a PAN card and driving licence in Maharashtra.

“We recovered 35 bank accounts, multiple mobile phones, laptops, hard disks, pen drives and passbooks from him. Officers are now probing the case from a money laundering angle,” the Police Commissioner said.

Cyber frauds linked to piracy platform

Commissioner Sajjanar warned the public against using piracy websites, saying users risk exposure to data theft, malware infections and cybercrime.

Ravi allegedly promoted betting apps such as 1win through pop-up ads and redirect links on his websites. These links pushed users to download APK files, often leading to OTP fraud, digital arrest scams and financial theft.

Film industry stand with police

Noted Telugu film personalities, including Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, director SS Rajamouli and producers Suresh Babu and Dil Raju, attended the media briefing, expressing support for the crackdown and urging stronger action against organised piracy.