HYDERABAD: iBomma founder Immadi Ravi lived a lavish, globe-trotting lifestyle, travelling to a new country almost every week, Hyderabad Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) M Srinivasulu said on Tuesday.
Briefing the media on the progress of the investigation during Ravi’s five-day police custody, the officer clarified that Ravi did not directly pirate films but sourced them from other websites and Telegram channels before enhancing their quality and uploading them to iBomma. Police also found that he operated servers in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
According to the ACP, Ravi initially registered the iBomma domain using his own email ID, debit card and personal details through a company named Njalla. “Since he used his own credentials, he cannot deny ownership of the domain,” ACP Srinivasulu said.
The website was later hosted through IPVolume, which provided backend infrastructure. Ravi deployed a Content Management System (CMS) to control content placement, ad pop-ups and user redirection, while multiple outsourced operators handled routine updates.
Before uploading a film, Ravi designed a poster and prepared two links—one for streaming and another for downloading. A friend, Nikhil, also helped create posters. Once finalised, the content was pushed live on the platform.
Each time a user clicked a movie link, a backend script redirected them to online gaming and illegal betting platforms before granting access to the film. Users were repeatedly exposed to these ads. With lakhs of daily visitors, the site generated massive traffic, for which betting and gaming platforms paid heavily.
Ad revenue, routed through international networks like AdCash and Adsterra, was transferred to Ravi’s advertising entity, AdBull. Payments were made in USDT, converted into Indian currency and deposited in his bank accounts. A team based in a Caribbean island also assisted in enhancing pirated content quality.
The ACP added that Ravi’s wife had no role in helping police apprehend him and that the case was cracked solely through investigative work. Nikhil, who assisted with posters, has also been interrogated.