The Kerala Police on Sunday arrested 12 persons following a statewide crackdown on those viewing and sharing objectionable contents related to children. The police suspects the involvement of trafficking gangs.

Those arrested include youngsters working in 'good professional jobs'; most of them are IT savvy, who used encrypted handles to upload and download the material, the police said.

At least 270 devices were seized and 142 cases registered following the massive covert operation named 'P-HUNT_23.1' by a special team -- CCSE (Countering Child Sexual Expolitation) of the Police under its Cyberdome.

The police seized mobile phones, modems, hard disks, memory cards, laptops and computers containing "graphic and illegal videos and pictures of children".

"The distressing part of the same is that many of the videos/pictures appear to be of local children, ranging in age group of 5 years to 15 years," the release said.

The police have based their suspicion of trafficking gangs' involvement from the chats on the devices that were seized.

"The details of rest of the people involved in circulating these images and videos are being further collected. Strong action will be taken against all the individuals involved in this racket, continuing our policy of zero tolerance in these matters," the release said.

The special unit had identified 858 locations throughout the state for the covert operation.

"The information was then collated and passed on to 280 teams under the District Police Chiefs, having members of cyber cells, technical experts and women component.

"Under the operational supervision of the District SPs, simultaneous raids were conducted throughout the State, on Sunday the 26th February 2023, from early morning onwards," the release said.

It should be noted that as per law, viewing, distributing or storing of any child pornographic content is a criminal offense can result in, up to 5 years imprisonment and up to Rs 10 lakh fine. Kerala Police seeks the support of the community, in this project and if any member of the public comes across any such channels or groups that spread child sex-related content, we urge you to please inform CCSE, Cyberdome or Cyber cells at the earliest, considering “Child security as the responsibility of every member of the society"," said Cyberdome Inspector General, P Prakash IPS.