Indian youth allegedly running global child porn racket arrested
The CBI has busted a global child pornography racket running on WhatsApp, allegedly led by five Indian citizens. The agency discovered a group on the messaging platform called 'KidsXXX' where participants from several countries including US, Mexico, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Afghanistan and New Zealand uploaded and circulated child pornography. A 20-year-old unemployed youth was nabbed from Kannauj, UP, after a three-month probe. Here's more.
CBI raided different locations, seized incriminating material before arresting
The CBI discovered the case after a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau. In these three months, it conducted searches in Delhi, UP and Maharashtra. It tracked down systems used in the racket with IP addresses and seized incriminating material including hard disks and mobile phones. It also conducted thorough background checks and behavioral analysis of the five suspects before taking action.
These are the five Indians allegedly involved in the racket
The CBI then zeroed in on five Indian citizens allegedly involved. Nikhil Verma, an unemployed commerce graduate, has been arrested from Kannauj. The other four booked are Satyendra Chauhan (Mumbai), Nafis Reza and Zahid (Delhi), and Adarsh (Noida), all alleged admins of the WhatsApp group.
CBI to seek help from agencies in other countries
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the IT and POCSO Acts. CBI is probing if an organized gang is involved in shooting the videos and pictures. It will write to its counterparts in other countries for help in locating and nabbing other group members. In India, accessing/producing/recording/uploading/circulating child pornography is punishable by 7-10 years' imprisonment and fines of upto Rs. 10L.
