Movie piracy has become a big problem in recent years. While film producers and actors work hard to release movies in theatres and OTT platforms, some websites upload these movies illegally on the very first day. One such website was iBomma, which became very popular for leaking Telugu movies soon after their release.
Recently, the Telangana Police achieved a major success in fighting digital piracy. The Cybercrime Police of Hyderabad arrested Immadhi Ravi, the person believed to be the main mastermind behind the iBomma and Bappam piracy platforms. He has now been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
Who Is Immadhi Ravi?
Immaddi Ravi is a highly skilled tech expert from Visakhapatnam. According to the police, he used his strong technical knowledge to hack servers and steal high-quality movie prints. He was reportedly running the piracy operations from the Caribbean islands, far away from India.
He had been on the run since October 1, when a case was filed against him. Police say he travelled to Amsterdam on October 3 and changed his IP addresses regularly to avoid tracking. Believing the investigation had cooled down, he returned to Hyderabad. However, police traced him through mobile signals and arrested him from a house in Kukatpally.
How Police Shut Down iBomma and Bappam movie websites
After Ravi’s arrest, police used the critical login access and information taken from him to shut down the iBomma and Bappam TV websites, which were running through multiple international servers. Earlier, iBomma had even issued warnings to police and film industry members, claiming it had data of “crores of users.” This angered authorities, who took the matter very seriously.
Police also seized hundreds of hard disks, financial documents, and recovered ₹3 crore in cash from Ravi. They are now studying his bank accounts, crypto wallets, and international money transactions to understand the full scale of his network.
Massive Piracy Network Across 65 Websites
Investigators revealed that Ravi was the main brain behind:
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iBomma
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Bappam TV
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65+ mirror websites
Together, these websites attracted over 37 lakh monthly users, mostly from Telugu-speaking regions.
The gang leaked Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and even Hindi movies. Many of these films appeared online on the same day they were released in theatres.
How the Piracy Racket Worked
The syndicate used:
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Encrypted Telegram groups
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Virtual private servers (VPS) abroad
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Cryptocurrency transactions
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Online betting and gambling website advertisements
Online betting companies reportedly paid them for ad space, helping finance the illegal operation. Police say this network made huge amounts of money through traffic and ads.
Complaints from the Telugu Film Industry
The Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce filed a complaint on August 30. Movies like Single, HIT, and Kubera were leaked online on the day they were released. This complaint triggered a large-scale investigation.
Earlier Arrests Exposed the Supporting Team
Before Ravi’s arrest, police had already detained five people from different states who were part of the piracy chain:
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Ashwani Kumar (Bihar) – Hacked digital media servers to steal HD content.
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Cyril Infant Raj (Tamil Nadu) – Ran piracy sites and earned nearly ₹2 crore in cryptocurrency.
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Jana Kiran Kumar (Hyderabad) – Secretly recorded more than 100 movies in theatres.
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Sudhakaran (Tamil Nadu) – Admitted to recording 35 South Indian movies.
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Arsalan Ahmed – Uploaded movies to file-sharing websites and circulated them via Telegram.
These arrests helped police understand how big the operation was and guided them to the main mastermind, Ravi.
What Happens Next?
Police are filing a petition in the Nampally Court seeking seven days of police custody. They want to question Ravi further to uncover:
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His international links
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His financial partners
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Details about the 65 mirror websites
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How he hacked servers and leaked movie prints
The investigation is still ongoing, and more arrests may follow.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is iBomma?
iBomma was a popular website that uploaded newly released movies illegally. It mainly focused on Telugu films but also leaked Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi content.
2. Why was iBomma shut down?
It was shut down because it was involved in large-scale movie piracy. Police obtained access after arresting the mastermind, Immadhi Ravi.
3. Who is Immadhi Ravi?
He is a tech expert from Visakhapatnam and the believed mastermind behind iBomma, Bappam, and other piracy websites.
4. Where was he operating from?
Police say he was running the operation from the Caribbean islands, using international servers and encrypted communication.
5. How did the police catch him?
He returned to Hyderabad after months of hiding. Police tracked his mobile signal and arrested him in Kukatpally.
6. What evidence did police recover?
They seized hundreds of hard disks, bank and crypto records, and ₹3 crore in cash.
7. How did the piracy network earn money?
The websites earned through advertisements, online betting promotions, and high traffic from users visiting to watch pirated movies.
8. What happens to users who watched movies on iBomma?
Usually, police target the operators, not the users. However, watching or downloading pirated movies is still illegal.
9. Are similar websites still active?
Many mirror sites and copy websites appear frequently. Police continue to track and block them.
10. How can people help stop movie piracy?
By avoiding pirated websites, reporting illegal links, and supporting legal OTT platforms and theatres.
