THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a statewide crackdown on child pornography on social media, the police on Monday arrested 41 people including IT professionals. As many as 268 cases were registered for circulating pictures and videos with child porn content through the WhatsApp and Telegram messenger services.
In the raids conducted on Saturday and Sunday at 326 locations across the state as part of Operation P-Hunt, 285 electronic devices -- including mobile phones, modems, hard disks, memory cards, laptops and computers with videos and pictures of children -- were seized.
The arrested were booked under the IT (Information Technology) Act and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. The accused were identified and arrested with the help of the Cyberdome of the state police and Interpol.
ADGP (Headquarters) and nodal officer of Cyberdome Manoj Abraham said the seized devices contained videos and pictures that appear to be of children below the age of 15. The arrested persons were found to be using all kinds of encrypted handles to upload and download such materials. Some are suspected to be involved in the trafficking of children as many chats to this effect were found on the confiscated gadgets.
Malappuram district tops the list with 47 number of cases, while the most number of arrests and raids were reported in Palakkad. A total of nine persons were arrested in Palakkad alone. The raids - led by IG (Crimes) S Sreejith - were carried out by the Countering Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE) team with the support of the local police.
"The details of the other people involved in circulating images and videos of children are being collected. WhatsApp and Telegram groups are also being monitored. Continuing our policy of zero tolerance in such matters, stringent action will be taken against all individuals involved in the racket," Abraham said in a statement.
A CCSE team official also said they have detected several groups on messaging service Telegram engaged in circulating child abuse material.
"Some of the groups such as 'Chakka', 'Bog Melon', 'Uppum Mulakum', 'Gold Garden', 'Devatha', 'Incest Lovers' and 'Poothumbikal' - each of which had more than 400 members - were found to be sharing CSAM. The groups have been shut down with the help of Telegram and efforts are on to identify the group members and admins," said the official.