New Delhi, Sep 24 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday carried out nationwide searches under meticulous operation ‘Megh Chakra’ at around 59 locations across 21 states/UTs in two cases related to downloading/circulation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
Under the operation, CBI conducted searches at around 59 locations in 21 States/UTs including Haryana’s Fatehabad, Uttarakhand’s Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Gujarat’s Kachh, Ghaziabad(Uttar Pradesh); Mursidabad(West Bengal); Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Thane, Nanded, Solapur, Kolahpur & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Krishna(Andhra Pradesh), Ram Nagar & Kolar (Karnataka) and New Delhi in two cases related to downloading/circulation of CSAM(Child Sexual Abuse Material), CBI statement stated.
CBI registered two cases under relevant provisions of IT Act based on information received from Crime Against Children (CAC), a 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 CSAM using cloud-based storage.
The said information received in INTERPOL from Law enforcement authorities of New Zealand was analysed and developed by CBI, and suspected persons were identified to locate and disrupt further distribution, it added.
Today’s crackdown was follow up of massive operation (Operation Carbon) carried out by CBI last year against Online Child Sexual Abuse Material, it stated.
During searches electronic devices including mobiles, laptops belonging to over 50 suspects were recovered.
Preliminary scrutiny of these electronic devices using cyber forensic tools allegedly revealed the presence of a huge quantity of CSAM in a number of electronic devices.
The suspects were being questioned with regard to the CSAM found in their electronic devices so as to identify the child victims and the abusers, it added.
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.
