iBomma Piracy Racket: Who Is the Arrested ‘Mastermind’? Chiranjeevi Says Game Changer, Thandel, Kingdom and OG Suffered Massive Losses
Hyderabad Police have arrested the alleged mastermind behind the iBomma movie-piracy network, prompting strong reactions from Chiranjeevi, Rajamouli, Nagarjuna and other Tollywood personalities who say films like Game Changer, Thandel, Kingdom and OG suffered major losses due to piracy.
Hyderabad Police arrest iBomma piracy network mastermind Ravi Emandi, drawing praise from Chiranjeevi, Rajamouli, Nagarjuna and other Tollywood leaders for the major breakthrough against movie piracy.
In a major breakthrough against film piracy, Hyderabad City Police have arrested the alleged mastermind behind the notorious iBomma/Bappam network — a piracy syndicate that has long troubled the Telugu film industry. The accused, identified as Ravi Emandi, a 39-year-old native of Visakhapatnam and currently a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, was taken into custody after a coordinated surveillance operation.
What Is iBomma?
iBomma is considered one of South India’s largest digital piracy ecosystems, notorious for leaking high-quality versions of movies, web series and OTT content. With over 65 mirror websites, the network reportedly redirected users to illegal betting platforms, resulting in large-scale financial exploitation.
According to police, Ravi is a highly skilled web designer involved in creating or managing more than 900 websites. Two others — Duddela Shivajee and Susarla Prashanth — have also been arrested for their links to the racket.
How Ravi Was Caught
As per IANS, Ravi fled India on October 1 after a case was filed against him and travelled to Amsterdam, frequently switching IPs to evade detection. He returned to Hyderabad recently, and police tracked him down using mobile signal data. He was detained from a residence in Kukatpally.
Tollywood Stars Applaud Police Action
The arrest triggered strong reactions across the Telugu film fraternity. Major stars including Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and SS Rajamouli personally met Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar to express gratitude.
Chiranjeevi said the industry had been losing huge revenues due to piracy and that Ravi had repeatedly challenged authorities.
“Finally, he is behind bars. Movies like Game Changer, Thandel, Kingdom, and OG suffered massive losses due to piracy,” he said, calling the arrest a “huge achievement.”
Rajamouli: ‘Pirated Movies Are Not Harmless’
Director SS Rajamouli compared Ravi’s arrest to a dramatic film plot:
“It was like a villain challenging the hero to catch him. Telangana Police proved their strength.”
He cautioned the public against watching pirated content:
“Nothing is free. These operators earn crores and misuse personal data. Your phone number or email can land in criminal hands and lead to fraud or worse.”
Industry-Wide Impact
Nagarjuna noted that the development would help not just Tollywood but film industries across India battling similar piracy networks.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan also praised the crackdown.
“The industry is losing not only money but years of creativity. Piracy gangs upload films on release day itself, turning premieres into battles.”
He added that such firm action would benefit the entire Indian film ecosystem.
