Tollywood Piracy Kingpin Arrested, Bank Accounts With Over Rs 3 Crore Seized

In a crackdown against movie piracy, the Hyderabad Cybercrime police have arrested Emmadi Ravi, the alleged key promoter and founder of the infamous iBomma and Bappam film piracy networks.

Ravi was apprehended over the weekend in Hyderabad following a prolonged international search, marking a significant victory for the Telugu film industry which claims losses running into thousands of crores.

Ravi was arrested in the Kukatpally area of Hyderabad after he returned to India from Europe, reportedly from France or the Netherlands, amid ongoing divorce proceedings. Police officials confirmed that Ravi, who had previously boasted online that he was beyond the reach of law enforcement, was tracked by monitoring his movement and phone signals.

Following the arrest, police seized several hardware items, storage devices, and hard disks from his residence. The authorities have also moved to freeze international bank accounts allegedly holding over Rs 3 crore linked to the piracy operations. Ravi has been charged under the Information Technology Act and the Cinematography Act and sent to judicial custody. The police are expected to petition the court to seek his custody for further interrogation.

The case was intensified earlier this year when the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) lodged multiple complaints after high-profile new releases, including films like Kuberaa, Single, and HIT: The Third Case, were illegally uploaded to iBomma and its associated mirror sites on or near their official release dates. The TFCC estimates that online piracy caused the Telugu film industry losses amounting to approximately Rs 3,700 crore in 2024 alone.

Ravi's network, which allegedly operated over 70 mirror sites, including the domain bappam.dev, relied on sophisticated international infrastructure to evade detection. The piracy websites predominantly targeted Telugu films but also illegally distributed content in Hindi, English, and other regional languages.

Investigators have revealed a detailed and elaborate modus operandi. Ravi allegedly managed the operation and uploaded pirated content using servers based in Caribbean islands, exploiting jurisdictional loopholes to maintain anonymity.

While Ravi reportedly claims he sourced poor-quality prints from other websites and enhanced them using software tools, the police previously arrested five key individuals in September 2025. This group included a hacker named Ashwani Kumar, who allegedly breached the servers of digital media companies to steal High Definition (HD) copies, and Jana Kiran Kumar, who recorded films in theatres using concealed mobile devices.

The sites, which offered free access to pirated movies, were monetised heavily through advertising deals with online gaming and betting platforms. Sources indicate Ravi earned a minimum of Rs 12 crore by running these ads, drawing millions of viewers. The complaint noted the bappam.dev domain alone recorded over 3.7 million monthly viewers from India.

The use of cryptocurrency for payments, encrypted Telegram groups for coordination, and hosting services like Cloudflare helped the piracy network shield itself from takedown efforts and enforcement agencies for years.

The arrest has been hailed by producers and film industry bodies as a crucial step in the battle against piracy. However, experts note that the deep-seated problem of film piracy often sees new mirror sites and platforms surge immediately after a major shutdown or arrest, as observed with the creation of new domains following Ravi's apprehension.

The Hyderabad police are now focused on leveraging the evidence seized and the information gained during Ravi's custody to unearth the full global network of accomplices, particularly those involved in sourcing and distributing the pirated content.