Crackdown on child porn in Kerala sees 39 cases, 14 arrests

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A special police wing is probing trafficking racket links to the 39 cases and 14 arrests it registered across Kerala on Sunday for crimes related to child pornography and abuse. About 280 teams under the Countering Child Sexual Exploitation wing raided 448 locations to hunt down antisocial elements circulating child sexual abuse material in cyberspace.

Those arrested, officers said, were mostly youths and techies who used encrypted handles to upload and download child porn content. At least 267 devices — mobile phones, modems, hard disks, memory cards, laptops and desktops — were seized during the state-wide raids. 

“Some are suspected to be involved in child trafficking, as there were many chats to this effect in their devices,” Cyberdome nodal officer ADGP Manoj Abraham noted. “The details of others involved in circulating illegal images and videos are being collected. Continuing our zero-tolerance policy of zero tolerance, strong action will be taken against all the individuals involved in this racket.”

Abraham also flagged the use of malware to activate victims’ webcams and to steal information of children in some cases. “In a few cases, we noted live online sessions involving children, available on payment via restricted links,” he added.

The officer also observed that there was a drastic increase in groups sharing pornographic content through WhatsApp and Telegram. Wary of police action, the culprits now use special encryption tools to avoid detection. They also delete the content using data shredding software and format their gadgets every three days, he added.

Since the launch of ‘Operation P-Hunt’ against child pornography in 2017, the police have conducted 3,138 searches, registered 1,296 cases and arrested 300 people so far.