iBomma Ravi Stonewalls Police Attempt To Block Film Piracy Websites

Hyderabad: Movie piracy kingpin Immadi Ravi, who in June challenged the police saying, “Stop chasing me… otherwise I will come after you,” had sensed his arrest and, a day before being detained, travelled to the Netherlands from France. He destroyed all data from the main server and related websites, and intentionally attempted to mislead investigators by storing pirated movies on a hard disk that was later seized from him at the time of arrest.

Ravi, a technical expert and web designer, knew he would be picked up either at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad or at his residence in Kukatpally. With ample time on hand, he executed a fool-proof plan — wiping servers, routing funds through multiple accounts, and diverting lakhs of rupees before landing in Hyderabad, reliable police sources disclosed.

Despite cybercrime officials hiring hackers to block various movie piracy websites, they reportedly faced technical hurdles. During the fifth and final day of Ravi’s police custody, he remained reluctant and uncooperative. Investigators said he pretended to help block the iBomma piracy sites, but he knew he had already linked the main site to multiple layered mirror sites, making takedown efforts ineffective.

No matter how many questions were asked, Ravi did not disclose the passwords, claiming repeatedly that he had forgotten them. Due to his non-cooperation, cyber experts, using the seized data, sent emails to several banks with details of his accounts, credit cards and debit cards. Based on the responses received, police expect to gather more evidence, sources said.

Throughout the five-day custody, Ravi maintained that no one assisted him. Even when senior officials questioned him in the presence of city police commissioner V. C. Sajjanar, he insisted, “I did everything alone without any technical support. I uploaded pirated movies myself because I learnt it by watching pirated movies,” investigators reported.

Except for sharing personal details about his travel and family background, Ravi remained tight-lipped about PMLA issues, associates, or technical support. He had chosen Cantabria due to its proximity to the sea borders of Spain and France. His passport revealed that every two weeks he travelled to Switzerland, the US, France, Thailand, Kuwait, Dubai and several other countries.

Ravi led a luxurious life, spent several lakhs of rupees, obtained Saint Kitts & Nevis citizenship, and operated a piracy network using sophisticated overseas servers. Apart from freezing Rs 3.50 crore, investigators also discovered that he owned valuable properties in prime locations in Hyderabad and in his native Visakhapatnam, sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate, probing the PMLA angle, has so far identified Rs 20 crore in illegal earnings. The ED team is now tracking a complex international financial trail to determine the full extent of the network. Authorities believe that new leads will expose the large-scale system supporting illegal streaming and distribution, which poses a serious threat to the film industry and user security due to connections with online betting and data theft.

After the conclusion of the five-day custody, Ravi was sent for medical examination and later escorted back to Chanchalguda Central Prison late in the evening.

· Investigators found that during the five-day custody, Ravi — a web and graphic designer — single-handedly set up iBomma and its multi-layered mirror piracy websites.

· In the past five years, Ravi earned over Rs 100 crore. Cybercrime teams identified national and international transactions amounting to Rs 30 crore.

· Ravi procured pirated movies through various Telegram accounts, negotiated the rates on the same platforms, and paid sellers exclusively in US dollar.

· Using his technical expertise, he set up controlled access to watch pirated movies and hosted a link that displayed up to 15 advertisements with a single click. He promoted betting apps, matrimony ads, gaming ads, and also circulated illegal betting APK links, police confirmed.

· Investigators disclosed that, to boost earnings, Ravi projected his viewership as above 50 lakh and received profits into his Bank account in India through remittances involving USDT, sources added.