HYDERABAD: In the end, it was a domestic issue that handed the Hyderabad cybercrime police one of their biggest catches, Immadi Ravi, who operated the website iBomma.
The police had been tracking him for months as he ran a high-speed piracy network that leaked films, mostly in Telugu but also in other languages, within minutes of their release on OTT platforms. iBomma and its linked site Bappam went offline soon after his arrest.
Officials said Ravi flew into Hyderabad on Friday amid ongoing divorce proceedings. While officers remain tight-lipped about the source of the tip-off, the rumour is that it may have come from someone close to him who had a grievance against him. The only certainty, investigators said, was that Ravi was now in police custody after a prolonged search.
Investigators estimate that Ravi earned crores through advertising deals with online betting and gaming platforms placed across his websites. They suspect he operated from a Caribbean island to avoid enforcement scrutiny. His sudden appearance in Hyderabad, despite running operations from abroad, has prompted police to examine whether he maintained parallel access points or support contacts in India.
Ravi was produced before the Nampally court on Saturday and sent to judicial custody. A senior officer said documents and hard disks were seized and that teams are assessing his financial trail. The police are also expected to seek assistance from foreign agencies as parts of the operation appear to have been routed through offshore servers.
Police are also examining whether Ravi acted alone or as part of a wider network that ran dozens of mirror sites. The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce estimates that online piracy caused a loss of about Rs 3,700 crore to the Telugu film industry in 2024.