NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEP 24
In a mega crackdown against the sales and distribution of online child pornography, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting raids at 59 locations across 21 states, including union territories, on Saturday.
Highly placed sources said that the CBI received inputs on the sales and distribution of such material on the Internet from Interpol’s Singapore-based Crime Against Child Unit.
After this, various teams of more than 200 CBI officials were formed to crackdown on the entire network of the accused involved in the crime.
- The Central agency received inputs on sales and distribution of such material on the Internet from Interpol’s Singapore-based Crime Against Child Unit
- Kutch, Rajkot, Lunavada and Godhra in Gujarat; Dindigul, Cuddalore and Chennai in Tamil Nadu among 59 locations
- During searches electronic devices including mobiles, laptops belonging to more than 50 suspects have been recovered
CBI has registered two cases under relevant provisions of IT Act based on an information received from Crime Against Children (CAC), unit of INTERPOL, Singapore which had received the same from New Zealand police for sharing with relevant country.
It was alleged that a number of Indian citizens were involved in circulation/downloading/transmission of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) using cloud-based storage. The said information received in INTERPOL from the Law enforcement authorities of New Zealand was analysed & developed by CBI, and suspected persons were identified to locate and disrupt further distribution.
“We have learnt that Cloud storage is being used by the accused in distribution of child sexual abuse material. We got inputs and developed it on our own. We located their hideouts based on technical surveillance and are now raiding them,” the sources said.
In a painstaking & meticulous operation Megh Chakra, the Central Bureau of Investigation has on Friday conducted national wide searches at around 59 locations in 21 States/UT, including Fatehabad (Haryana); Dehradun (Uttarakhand); Kutch (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); Mursidabad (West Bengal); Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Thane, Nanded, Solapur, Kolhapur & Nagpur (Maharashtra); Ranchi (Jharkhand); Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh); Krishna (Andhra Pradesh); Ram Nagar (Karnataka); Kolar (Karnataka); Faridabad (Haryana); Hathras (Uttar Pradesh); Bengaluru; Kodagu; Raipur (Chhattisgarh); New Delhi; Chelakkara (Kerala); Dindigul (Madurai); Gurdaspur & Hosiarpur (Punjab); Chennai; Dhanbad; Rajkot; Goa; Hyderabad; Ajmer; Jaipur; Dindigul,Cuddalore and Chennai (Tamil Nadu); Mallapuram (Kerala); Lunavada (Gujarat); Godhra (Gujarat); Guwahati; Dhimaji (Assam); Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh); Bardhman (West Bengal); Maharajgan (Uttar Pradesh); aran (Bihar); Bhagalpur (Bihar); Agartala (Tripura); Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) etc in two cases related to downloading/circulation of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material).
Today’s crackdown was follow up of massive operation (Operation Carbon) carried out by CBI last year against Online Child Sexual Abuse Material
During searches electronic devices including mobiles, laptops belonging to more than 50 suspects have been recovered. Preliminary scrutiny of these electronic devices using cyber forensic tools has allegedly revealed the presence of huge quantity of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) in a number of electronic devices.
The suspects are being questioned with regard to the CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) found in their electronic devices so as to identify the child victims and the abusers.
Operation Chakra is one of the CBI-led global operations in recent times for rapid response to online child sexual exploitation cases with international linkages and organized cyber enabled financial crimes with victims, accused, suspects, conspirators located across international jurisdictions, requiring a globally coordinated law enforcement response. Investigation is continuing.
