Hyderabad among 59 locations for CBI raids on child pornography

The CBI conducted searches at 59 locations in 21 States after registering two cases under the IT Act based on information received from Crime Against Children

Hyderabad: Hyderabad was among the cities in which searches were carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as part of Operation Megh Chakra in connection with two cases related to downloading and circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The CBI conducted searches at 59 locations in 21 States after registering two cases under the 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. It was alleged that a number of Indian citizens were involved in circulation, downloading and transmission of CSAM using cloud-based storage.

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Saturday’s crackdown was also a follow up of Operation Carbon carried out by CBI last year against online CSAM. During the searches, electronic devices including mobiles, laptops belonging to more than 50 suspects were seized, with preliminary scrutiny of these using cyber forensic tools allegedly revealing 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.