iBomma piracy case: Nampally Court grants 5-day custody of key accused Immadhi Ravi

Hyderabad: In the iBomma movie piracy investigation, the Nampally Criminal Court on Wednesday granted five-day police custody of alleged kingpin Immadhi Ravi, who was arrested recently by the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police.

The court issued the order after examining the police request seeking seven days of custodial interrogation.

Court allows limited custody

Cybercrime officials informed the court that custodial interrogation was crucial to uncover the technical and financial architecture of the piracy network, which operated across states and caused significant losses to the film industry.

After hearing the arguments, the court granted five days of custody, during which officers plan to question Ravi on domain operations, backend servers and the flow of funds linked to the piracy site.

Key leads likely to emerge

Police believe several unanswered questions, especially relating to offshore collaborators, mirror sites and revenue channels, may surface during the custodial examination.

Sources indicated that the police expect crucial digital evidence and access credentials to emerge in this phase of interrogation.

ED probing money trail

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has already begun looking into possible money-laundering angles, suspecting that the iBomma operation may have generated considerable illegal revenue. Financial transactions, ad revenues and cross-border payments connected to the network are currently under scrutiny.

How the iBomma network operated

The iBomma website gained notoriety for releasing high-quality pirated versions of newly released Telugu films, often within hours of their theatrical debut.

Despite repeated attempts by authorities to block it, the platform resurfaced multiple times using proxy domains and mirror links.

According to investigators, Ravi allegedly handled core backend functions including: domain procurement and rotation, server management, uploading and distribution workflow, Ad-based monetisation strategies, and coordination with overseas technical partners.

Rs 3 crore seized

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.