BENGALURU: A hard disk seized during a raid on a flat owned by a company linked to a senior IAS officer in August was found to contain child pornography. Police registered a case under the IT Act against a company on Thursday. The disk, sources said, also contains personal details of the officer.
Cases under section 67(B) of the Information Technology Act have been registered against PSK Finance Solutions Pvt Ltd and others by Yeshwantpur police. The company is owned by IAS officer Kapil Mohan’s father.
The officer is facing charges related to cricket betting. The hard disk was found during a raid by the Income Tax and Criminal Investigation Department officers.
According to sources, the complaint was registered based on the report submitted by Lokayukta ADGP Prem Shankar Meena to City Police Commissioner N S Megharikh. The police commissioner forwarded it to the Yeshwantpur police station to take action on Thursday. “The disk contained five to six pornographic movies involving children below 7. So, a case under section 67(B) of the Information Technology Act has been registered. The accused can be booked under POCSO Act if the children are used for commercial exploitation,” an official told Express.
In a joint operation, the IT and CID sleuths raided flat no MB-602, Maple Block, 6th floor, Golden Grand Apartment, Yeshwantpur, in August, based on clues given by the two bookies arrested in Old Hubballi police station limits in connection with cricket betting.
CID and IT sleuths had seized 2.45 kg gold, diamonds and Rs 4,37,50,000 cash (40,900 notes of Rs 1,000 and 5,700 of Rs 500) from Flat No. MB-602, Maple Block, 6th Floor, Golden Grand Apartment, Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru. The flat belongs to IAS Officer Kapil Mohan, his father Naresh Mohan and his wife Richa Saxena. Police have also recovered a laptop bag, 42 CDs, hard disk and a data cable. A report was submitted to the state government which referred the matter to Lokayukta police.
Lokayukta police raided properties owned by Kapil Mohan and his family in Bengaluru, Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh. They sent the external hard disk from the flat to the Cyber Police.
When contacted, T R Suresh, DCP (North), said an FIR has been registered Section 67 (B) of the Information Technology Act against PSK Finance Solutions Pvt Ltd and others, following a complaint registered by the Yeshwantpur police. Investigation will reveal names of those involved, he added.
Chronicle of Probe against IAS Officer
August 5: Joint raid by CID and IT sleuths on the flat which was in the name of PSK Finance Solutions Pvt Ltd.
September 16: Lokayukta police registers FIR against Kapil Mohan and wife in connection with disproportionate assets case, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
September 18: Lokayukta police conduct raids at properties owned by Kapil Mohan, his wife and his father and others in Bengaluru, Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh.
September 30: In response to the petition filed by Kapil Mohan seeking to quash the FIR registered against him by the Lokayukta police, the High Court passed interim order not to take any coercive action.
Meanwhile, one Jayshiv Saxena was arrested by Lokayukta police for allegedly misleading the probe by claiming that the wealth seized by IT was gifted by him to Kapil.
During cricket betting probe, bookies informed Old Hubballi police that cricket betting was going on in Flat No 602 of Golden Grand Apartment, Yeshantpur and that cash was stashed in the flat.
October 19: Upa Lokayukta seeks report from executive engineer in connection with irregularities in awarding tenders worth Rs 13 crore to a private firm for online continuous volumetric discharge monitoring and water accounting system during the tenure of Kapil Mohan as MD of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd.
firm booked under it act
What 67(B) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, says: Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit acts, etc, in electronic form.
Raids conducted in august
IT and CID sleuths have raided flat no MB-602, Maple Block, 6th floor, Golden Grand Apartment, Yeshwantpur, in August, based on clues given by bookies arrested in Hubballi.