Hyderabad Police Invoke Foreigners Act as Probe Tightens Around iBomma Founder Ravi
PakkaHyderabadi 
iBomma founder Ravi being taken into custody as Hyderabad Police intensify the probe under the Foreigners Act.
Authorities in Hyderabad have expanded their crackdown on the iBomma piracy network, adding sections of the Foreigners Act to the case against its alleged founder and operator, Ravi, who is accused of inflicting thousands of crores in losses on the Telugu film industry.
The Cybercrime police, who have already booked the accused under multiple provisions related to digital piracy, cheating, financial loss, and privacy violations, made the latest addition after confirming that Ravi is not an Indian citizen. Officials said he currently holds citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean island nation known for offering “citizenship-by-investment” programmes.
Foreigners Act added after citizenship verification
“Since the accused is a foreign national and has allegedly committed offences within India, relevant sections of the Foreigners Act have been invoked,” a senior official said.
The inclusion significantly strengthens the case, giving investigators wider legal authority to question, detain and examine the accused.
Interrogation focuses on money trail
Following a local court’s order granting five days of police custody, Cybercrime officials brought Ravi from Chanchalguda Central Prison to the CCS office at Basheerbagh on Thursday.
Investigators are probing:
- Banking transactions and NRI-linked accounts
- International money movement
- Crypto wallet transfers
- Possible overseas servers and operators connected to iBomma
Officials said the interrogation aims to uncover the full scale of the financial network backing iBomma, which became one of India’s most notorious piracy platforms, leaking major Telugu films within hours of release.
A massive piracy ecosystem
iBomma built a huge user base across India and abroad, offering HD versions of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi movies illegally. Industry bodies estimate the losses to filmmakers run into several thousand crores over the past few years.
The investigation now seeks to determine whether Ravi operated alone or was connected to a larger international syndicate.
