Hyderabad's cybercrime police have arrested Immadhi Ravi, a key administrator and operator of the piracy website iBomma. He was taken into custody in Kukatpally after he arrived in Hyderabad from France on Friday.
Investigators said that Ravi ran the platform remotely from the Caribbean Islands. Ravi reportedly oversaw the uploading and distribution of pirated Telugu films and OTT content through the website. The Rs 3 crore in his bank account has also been frozen.
The Telugu film Anti-Piracy Team had previously filed a complaint with the police against the website iBomma for pirating and distributing newly released Telugu movies. Telugu police had detained operators of the website in the past. They had launched a widespread investigation which led to them tracking Ravi’s movements abroad.
Officials are also searching for other members of he network who are involved in running the platform. Digital forensics and financial trails are also being examined.
In September, the Hyderabad cybercrime police booked 65 mirror websites including iBomma and Bappam platforms for illegally uploading and distributing content.
The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce had filed a complaint that the industry was facing massive losses due to piracy, with an estimated Rs 2,200 loss calculated over the years.
Police had a meeting with the Telugu Film fraternity detailing the piracy. They had identified several piracy portals, including TamilMV, Tamil Blasters, and Movierulz. They said that the cybercrime network recorded films in-theatre and leaked the recordings online.