Skeletons tumble out of iBomma piracy network kingpin’s closet

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have achieved a breakthrough with the arrest of Immadi Ravi, the mastermind behind the notorious iBomma/Bappam piracy network, which featured over 65 mirror websites conducting rampant distribution of pirated Telugu and regional movies.

The operation caused losses estimated at thousands of crores to the Telugu film industry and other sectors across South India and Bollywood. Ravi, a highly skilled computer science graduate turned cybercriminal, ran the piracy portal from multiple international locations, including the Caribbean, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France, exploiting tactics such as frequent domain switching and Cloudflare hosting to evade Indian jurisdiction.

The elaborate piracy network not only distributed pirated copies of high-profile films, such as Kantara Chapter 1, Dude, Mirai, OG and more, but also funnelled millions of site users to illegal online betting platforms such as 1win and 1xbet.

With over 5 million users monthly, these redirections generated upwards of Rs. 20 crore in illicit commissions for Ravi, alongside inflicting severe financial and personal damage on unsuspecting users through malware attacks and data theft. The seizure of Rs. 3 crore in frozen bank assets, along with electronic devices containing over 21,000 pirated movies, underscores the scale and sophistication of the racket. Ravi’s arrest follows a meticulous investigation initiated from complaints by the Telugu Film Chamber’s Anti-Piracy Cell, unveiling a criminal ecosystem that thrived on stealing creative content and compromising public safety. Law enforcement officials, led by Commissioner VC Sajjanar and the Cyber Crime Unit, leveraged advanced tracking, international data sharing, and technical surveillance to bring Ravi to justice in Hyderabad’s Kukatpally area.

The police have warned users against accessing piracy websites, highlighting the severe risks of data theft, malware infections and cyber fraud perpetuated by such criminal enterprises.

This arrest is a decisive win for the law enforcement agencies collaborating with the film industry to safeguard intellectual property and protect consumers from financial exploitation and cybercrimes.