Tightening the noose around child predators online, the Kerala police on Saturday arrested 47 people in a series of raids conducted across the state. Eighty-nine cases were registered on charges relating to circulation of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
The raids were conducted by the Kerala police's Countering Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE) team, the only such wing in the country, as part of its Operation P-Hunt 20.1.
The police seized 143 devices such as mobile phones, modems, hard disks, memory cards and computers in the raids. The gadgets comprised graphic and illegal videos and pictures of children, the police said.
Many of the videos/pictures appear to be of local children, ranging in age group of 6 years to 15 years, according to a police statement.
The arrested include tech-savvy young professionals. “They were using all kinds of encrypted handles to upload and download the (CSAM) materials. Some are suspected to be involved in the trafficking of children also as there are many chats to this effect in their devices,” ADGP Manoj Abraham, nodal officer, Cyberdome, said in the statement.
All the arrested people were actively engaged in uploading and circulating CSAM through online platforms. Cases have also been registered against those who shared such content.
The CCSE team conducted a digital analysis of the virtual trends during the COVID lockdown during which the state witnessed an increased online activity by those seeking child abuse materials on the net, and particularly the darknet.
The police found that the number of porn groups operating over WhatsApp and Telegram groups as well as activity in such groups increased drastically during this period.
“Many obscene pictures, videos inside household, flats etc have been uploaded in recent times, which clearly shows that most of the pictures have been taken and uploaded in the said period. Abuse of children locked up in their homes is evident and from the pictures/videos being uploaded and shared, during this period,” the statement said.
The raids were conducted under the operational supervision of IGP Crimes S Sreejith. The raids were organised under the direct supervision of the district police chiefs and they were assisted by shadow teams, women personnel and a specially trained cyber team.
“The police want to make it clear that such illegal activities targetting children will not go unnoticed and that the perpetrators of the crime will be brought to the book,” IG Sreejith told Onmanorama.
The CCSE team conducted the operation on the directive of the state police chief Loknath Behera. As part of the operation, IP addresses of digital devices were collected using specialised software and persons sharing CSAM on social media handles were traced using different tools. Many groups operating on Telegram such as SREYAYUDE, THAVALAM, THANASERTHA, KAMBI FAMILY, MANTHANGA GIRL, operating with more than 200-odd members each from the state, were identified and listed out. The raids were conducted after identifying 117 locations.
Operational since January, the CCSE Team works in close contact with the INTERPOL-Crimes against Children Unit and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC).
Viewing, distributing or storing of any child pornographic content is a criminal offence which invites imprisonment up to five years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh.
