NEW DELHI — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three people from Delhi for their alleged role in online child sexual abuse and exploitation, officials told India Today. India Today has learnt that at least a dozen other suspects have been detained by the CBI, out of which few of them will be arrested soon.
The arrests were made by the CBI after a nationwide crackdown against sexual abuse of children in which over 77 premises in 14 states were raided by officials on Tuesday.
Purushottam Jha, Raman Gautam and Satyendra Mittal were placed under arrested by the CBI based on the evidence gathered against them by the officials during the raids, sources said.
The CBI has unearthed international rackets with nationals of over 100 countries involved in online child sexual abuse after it initiated a crackdown on Tuesday. The officials also found that over 50 groups with 5,000 offenders from over 100 countries including Pakistan, Canada, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, USA, Azerbaijan, UK, Belgium and Yemen were involved in sexual abuse against children through online platforms.
“It has been alleged that various syndicates of individuals based in different parts of India and foreign countries were indulging in circulating, storing & viewing Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) through various social media platforms and groups. It was also alleged that persons were disseminating CSEM by way of sharing links, videos, pictures, texts, posts and hosting of such content on social media groups or platforms and third party storage or hosting platforms,” said a CBI officer.
Over 80 teams of CBI in Tuesday morning started searches in 14 states at around 77 locations in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, Kanekal, Delhi; Uttar Pradesh’s Konch, Jalaun, Mau, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Siddharthanagar, Moradabad, Noida, Jhansi, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar; Gujrat’s Junagarh, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar; Punjab’s Sangroor, Malerkotla, Hoshiarpur, Patiala; Bihar’s Patna, Siwan; Haryana’s Yamuna Nagar, Panipat, Sirsa, Hisar; Odisha’s Bhadrak, Jajapur, Dhenkanal; Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvalure, Coimbatore, Namkkal, Salem, Tiruvannamalai; Rajasthan’s Ajmer, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur; Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior; Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Salwad, Dhule; Chattisgarh’s Korba and Himachal Pradesh’s Solan at the premises of accused.
During these searches, various electronic gadgets, mobiles and laptops have so far been recovered by the CBI. The CBI also found that some individuals were involved in trading of CSEM material.
Several individuals have also been detained by the CBI and few more are expected to be detained or arrested once searches are over.
“As per initial information collected, there are more than 50 groups having more than 5000 offenders sharing child sexual abuse material. Many of these groups also have involvement of foreign nationals. It is initially learnt that there may be involvement of nationals of around 100 countries spread across various continents. CBI is coordinating with sister agencies through formal and informal channels. Searches and development of further leads is underway,” added the CBI officer.
Every year, many children face abuse which becomes more horrific when online platforms are used. It is a challenge for all stakeholders including law enforcement agencies.
The CBI, as a National Central Bureau (Interpol-India), is uniquely coordinating such matters having national and international ramifications.
A special unit “Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/ Investigation (OCSAE)” was created in the CBI for matters pertaining to online child sexual abuse and exploitation. Apart from coordination with various agencies, the unit is undertaking investigation of various offences relating to online child sexual abuse and exploitation. — (Agencies)