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Hyderabad Police Detail iBomma Takedown, Cite 21,000 Pirated Films and Data on 5 Million Users

Film leaders warn of data-harvesting schemes linked to illegal betting on piracy platforms.

Overview

  • Police arrested Immadi (Emandi) Ravi on November 14 at his Kukatpally apartment after a months-long probe launched by TFCC complaints about same-day leaks.
  • Investigators say the operation ran about 65 mirror sites on foreign servers, stored roughly 21,000 movies, and collected personal information from around 5 million users.
  • Authorities estimate revenues of about Rs 20 crore through advertising and betting referrals, have frozen Rs 3–3.5 crore in domestic accounts, and are tracing foreign and crypto flows.
  • Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, SS Rajamouli and Dil Raju praised the crackdown, linked piracy to box-office losses for films like Game Changer and OG, and cautioned that “free” sites function as data traps.
  • The shutdown has fueled online sympathy tied to concerns over ticket and OTT prices, while the domains remain inaccessible and police highlight risks such as “digital arrest” scams.