Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Announcing the arrest of movie piracy accused Immadhi Ravi, who allegedly ran the websites iBomma and Bappam TV, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar said that the police have seized around Rs 3 crore so far.
Sajjanar said that Ravi admitted to having earned at least around Rs 20 crore from film piracy. Ravi operated nearly 35 bank accounts, and the police will contact the respective banks for further information. The police are also probing the case from a money laundering angle. His mobile phones, laptops, hard disks, pen drives and passbooks have been seized.
Ravi, who had earlier openly challenged the police to arrest him, was picked up from a house in the Kukatpally area of Hyderabad on November 14. He was allegedly involved in uploading and distributing pirated Telugu and other regional-language films and OTT content on iBomma and Bappam TV.
A native of Visakhapatnam, Ravi had renounced Indian citizenship and become a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, an island nation in the Caribbean. According to the police, he lived in France and travelled across the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, the United States and Dubai.
A BSc Computer Science graduate, Ravi started operating iBomma in 2019, with servers located in the US, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the Commissioner said.
He had purchased around 110 website domain names, and each time authorities attempted to block his site, he created a mirror domain. At one point, he was running nearly 65 mirror sites, according to the Commissioner.
“He would use secret cameras to film new movies and employ advanced technology to release them online. He uploaded films on his website on the very day of their theatrical release. Movies like Mirai, Dude, Kantara Chapter 1 and OG were uploaded on his platform. He also released OTT content through screen recording. The accused even attempted to send malware to people working in the film industry to gather data,” Sajjanar said.
Ravi was allegedly using a Telegram channel to “run the piracy racket.”
He has been booked in multiple cases by the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police under the Copyright Act.
Sajjanar also warned the public against using movie piracy websites, saying that users become vulnerable to data theft and cyber fraud.
“Ravi promoted betting apps like 1win through pop-ups and redirect links, cheating the public. He encouraged people to download APK files, which led to OTP fraud, digital arrest scams and other forms of cybercrime,” the Commissioner added.
Senior Telugu actors Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna, director SS Rajamouli, and producers Suresh Babu and Dil Raju were also present alongside the Commissioner during the media briefing.