Hyderabad police recently arrested Immadhi Ravi, the alleged creator of the piracy platforms iBomma and Bappam TV. Officials say he built a huge piracy network that earned nearly Rs 20 crore and used servers in the United States, the Netherlands, and Switzerland to leak new Telugu and regional films within hours of release. Police seized Rs 3 crore in cash and found more than 110 domains linked to his operation.
A Larger Piracy Network Uncovered
Investigators also revealed information about another key accused, Ravi Emandi, a 39-year-old from Visakhapatnam who became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He was arrested in Hyderabad after running a major piracy and online fraud network. Police seized hard drives containing around 21,000 pirated films in multiple languages. His platforms diverted lakhs of users to illegal betting sites, which caused financial fraud and data theft.
Other Piracy Sites Still Active
Many viewers on social media point out that iBomma is not the only major piracy threat. Older platforms like TamilMV, TamilRockers, TamilBlasters, HDHub4u, and MovieRulz continue to operate. Some of these websites have recently leaked big films, including 4K versions of Sikandar, Hit 3 and Hi Nanna, before their release.
Mirror Sites and Heavy Losses to the Film Industry
Officers said the iBomma ecosystem used more than 65 mirror websites at one time. Newly released movies like Mirai, Dude, Kantara Chapter 1, OG, and others were uploaded quickly in HD quality. This caused huge losses to the Telugu film industry. Leaders such as Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan praised the police for their efforts, saying it was a major breakthrough for filmmakers.
People are now asking why only the iBomma operators are being arrested. They say the police and film industry must act against all piracy websites at the same time to truly control the problem.
