Telangana police arrested Immadi Ravi, founder of iBomma, a large-scale movie piracy network, which includes over 65 mirror websites, on November 15. The Hyderabad Police Commissioner, VC Sajjanar, warned piracy site users of data theft and cyber fraud on Monday.
Tollywood biggies, including actors, producers, and directors, were present at the presser. They warned of dire consequences to the users of the piracy sites, who get to watch films for free, more than the film industry itself.
Ravi had allegedly collected personal data of nearly 50 lakh users. He reportedly earned Rs. 20 crores through illegal activities such as promoting online betting. The iBomma website contained around 21,000 movies from The Godfather to OG. OG, Miraje, Dude, and Kantara: A Legend Chapter–1 were recovered from Ravi’s hard drives. The Telugu film industry alone had lost Rs 3,700 crore to online piracy in 2024.