The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested an accused, resident of Srinagar (J&K) in an on-going investigation of a case.
CBI had registered a case U/s. 67 B of IT Act and Sec. 14 of POCSO Act, 2012 against an accused, resident of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) on the allegations of running an online child sexual abuse racket from India, targeting minors living in the USA. It was further alleged that the accused uploaded pornographic videos and images over the dark web for financial gains and also involved in direct communication with many minors in the USA. His wife is living in Washington, USA. The accused was allegedly operating through his wife, who had agreed to be involved in a Master-Slave relationship with the accused, and at his direction, she allegedly exploited multiple minors, recorded these abuses, and electronically sent the same to him. It was also alleged that when the victims refused to follow his dictate, he shared these videos and images with their family members.
Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused at Srinagar which led to the recovery of incriminating digital evidences including 3 laptops, 5 mobiles, pen drives, handwritten notes, etc.
The arrested accused is being produced today before the Competent Court at Srinagar.
CBI regularly coordinates with international law enforcement agencies to detect & investigate sexual abuse of minors, especially over cyberspace, and also reaffirms its commitment towards promoting cooperation with US Law Enforcement Agencies in combating child sexual abuse in cyberspace.
Consistent and conscious efforts are being made to identify and detain criminals involved in the sexual exploitation of minors. CBI had recently traced and arrested an accused, resident of District Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh) on 16.11.2020 on the allegations of sexually abused over 50 children in the Districts of Chitrakoot, Banda, and Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh). During searches, huge material including mobile phones, laptops, web-camera, electronic storage devices, Pen Drives / Memory Cards, several sex toys, emails, etc. were recovered.