The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday got three days remand of seven accused arrested in different locations for their alleged involvement in circulating, storing and viewing Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) through various social media platforms/groups.
All seven accused were produced before the two different magistrates of Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi where all were granted remand of three days in the matter.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons were involved in the collection, circulation, distribution of CSEM for monetary gains. "Accused were involved in Child Pornography racket, shared links, made illegal gains through the circulation of these links and content," stated CBI in court.
Several mobile, multiple sim cards, pen drives, and incriminating documents are also recovered during raids, CBI informed the Court.
The investigating agency, while seeking remand, stated that it need to trace down the links and websites from where he was getting the content.
As per initial information collected, the CBI, in a press release, said that there are more than 50 groups having more than 5,000 offenders sharing child sexual abuse material. Many of these groups also have the involvement of foreign nationals.
"It is initially learnt that there may be involvement of nationals of around 100 countries spread across various continents," CBI said.
As per the CBI press release, the agency conducted searches at around 77 locations in 14 states in connection with 23 separate cases registered against 83 accused on November 14 as part of a nationwide coordinated crackdown on crimes related to online child sexual abuse material.
"It was alleged that various syndicates of individuals based in different parts of India and foreign countries were indulging in circulating, storing and viewing Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) through various social media platforms/groups," CBI said.
"It was also alleged that persons were disseminating CSEM by way of sharing links, videos, pictures, texts, posts and hosting of such content on social media groups/platforms and third-party storage/hosting platforms," it added.
As per the release, a number of electronic gadgets/mobiles/laptops etc. have been recovered during searches so far. It is revealed that some individuals were involved in the trading of CSEM material.
( With inputs from ANI )
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