In a bust in a piracy network, the Hyderabad police on Monday arrested the alleged mastermind of a piracy network that ran more than 65 mirror websites and allegedly caused huge losses to the Telugu film industry, PTI reported.
According to a police statement issued on Monday, accused Ravi Emandi was also found to have diverted thousands of users from pirated websites to illegal betting platforms – an activity that led to widespread financial exploitation of the public.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Monday congratulated the Hyderabad city police, noting that the film industry is suffering huge losses as piracy gangs upload films online on the day of their release, despite the “huge financial and creative investment” that goes into filming. “The arrest of the operator of iBomma and Bappam and the closure of these major piracy sites is a welcome step,” Kalyan said in a post on X.
Top film personalities including actors Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna Akkineni and director SS Rajamouli met Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and appreciated the efforts of the police.
Tollywood producer Daggubati Suresh Babu reacted to the piracy racket busted by the Hyderabad police saying, “This is a very important development. The arrested individual was one of the main culprits who threatened and challenged us and finally we got him. Several other people were involved but we are on the right track. What is more important is that people understand that their data is free when they look at your data. It can be accessed at official platforms, these are unofficial people who have access to them, and losing your data can be very harmful.”
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“The arrest follows a comprehensive investigation into the piracy of several newly released Telugu films, including ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ and ‘Mirai’, which were illegally uploaded on the network and related extension websites,” the report said.
The Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) had earlier reported that several such websites along with about 65 associated mirror domains were illegally uploading and distributing copyrighted Telugu films without permission.
These platforms allegedly hosted newly released theatrical and OTT movies in HD quality, causing “massive financial losses to producers, distributors and exhibitors”, the company said.
What was stated in the complaint?
The complaint said the operators frequently changed domains, used Cloudflare for anonymity and attracted millions of users, leading to recurring losses to the Telugu film industry.
It sought a full investigation, website blocking, operator tracking and legal action.
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During the investigation, the police identified three persons as the prime accused, including the alleged mastermind Ravi Emandi. While the two were arrested in September, Emandi was arrested two days ago.
ED and CBI to be informed about piracy network: Police
Police Commissioner Sajjanar told reporters that the ED and CBI would be informed about the piracy network in view of its international links. As the accused has obtained data of 50 million subscribers, he said the data can be misused for cyber crimes and other crimes, as reported by PTI.
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Referring to the main accused Ravi, who had in the past urged the police to arrest him, Sajjanar said the Telangana police would always strive to catch those involved in crimes.
Here’s what the police said
Police said Emandi used his web hosting and development skills to launch a pirate website in 2019 that became the starting point for a wider piracy and betting operation.
The site has quickly grown into one of the most visited piracy platforms, known for its high-quality video streams and attracting nearly five million monthly users.
Whenever authorities blocked his primary domains, he allegedly responded by registering new ones and moving sites to overseas hosting providers to stay out of Indian jurisdiction.
Investigators say he even set up physical servers in countries like the Netherlands and Switzerland to keep pirated streams running uninterrupted, making it harder for law enforcement to track him down.
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He also allegedly kept backup movie files on external hard drives, which allowed him to quickly bring new domains online whenever existing ones were taken down.
Police said they recovered around 21,000 films from his possession, ranging from Hollywood classics like ‘The Godfather’ (1972) to new Telugu releases.
In order to generate revenue, Emandi allegedly worked with online gaming and betting operators and redirected traffic from its site to these platforms.
To avoid Indian laws, he also renounced his Indian citizenship and acquired citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, police said.
After analyzing technical data from domain service providers, ISPs and passport authorities, the police tracked him down and arrested him from an apartment in Hyderabad, the report added.
