Punjab Police bust online child pornography fraud, one arrested

In a massive operation, the Cybercrime Division of the Punjab Police has arrested one person and identified 54 suspects involved in viewing, transmitting and distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) through various online platforms.

“The arrested suspect is a resident of Ramsra, #Fazilka. Police teams seized electronic devices following standard procedures, with appropriate hash values ​​recorded. An FIR has been registered under Section 67B of the IT Act on cyber police station,” the director said. General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav on Thursday.

During the operation, 39 devices were seized from various suspects and sent for forensic analysis. Further investigations are underway to identify and dismantle the racket. This development almost immediately followed the Supreme Court judgment clarifying that viewing, possessing and failing to report CSAM content is punishable under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

CSAM refers to any content that depicts or exploits minors in a sexual manner, including photographs, videos or media, the production, distribution or possession of which is illegal, which causes long-lasting harm to victims and is considered a serious form of exploitation of children because of the lasting impact it has on the victims.

The arrested suspect has been identified as Vijaypal, a resident of Ramsra in Fazilka. Police teams have also seized electronic devices following standard procedures, recording appropriate hash values. In this regard, an FIR has been registered at the cyber police station under Section 67B of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following the Cyber ​​Tiplines regarding transfer of CSAM content received from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the State Cyber ​​Crime Division in coordination with CPs/SSPs has launched a special operation launched to arrest individuals involved in viewing, broadcasting and distributing such content.

He said that in the first phase of the operation, as many as 54 suspects have been identified across Punjab, while one person who sold and shared CSAM through Instagram and Telegram was arrested from Fazilka.

The DGP said police teams seized 39 devices from various suspects during the operation and are being sent for forensic analysis. Further, investigations are underway to identify and arrest more perpetrators involved in such heinous crimes, he added.

Sharing more details, ADGP Cybercrime, V Neeraja said the operation, which was closely coordinated by SP Cybercrime Jashandeep Gill, is part of Punjab’s efforts to combat online child abuse. The operation is still ongoing and more arrests are expected in the coming days, she added.

She said that under the current law, viewing, distributing or storing CSAM is a punishable offense under 67 (B) IT Act, 2000, read with Section 15 of the POCSO Act, and punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police has cybercrime police stations in all 28 districts and commissionerates, which are equipped with cyber investigation and technical support units (CI & TSUs) to investigate cybercrime. For further assistance or to report CSAM, people can contact the State Cyber ​​Crime Division or local district cyber crime police station.

This story comes from a syndicated feed from third party agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for the reliability, reliability, reliability and dates of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the exclusive right to modify, delete or remove any Content at its sole discretion for any reason (without notice)