Kerala police arrest 12 for allegedly sharing nude child photos on Whatsapp, Facebook
In a major statewide crackdown, the cybercrime wing of the Kerala police has arrested 12 people for allegedly viewing and sharing nude photos of children. The crackdown began on Friday morning and continued until late that night.
The 12 accused were allegedly using Whatsapp, Facebook and Telegram groups to share the photos.
Police have registered as many as 20 cases in connection to the crime, as part of the raid, dubbed ‘Operation P Hunt.’ The police action was focussed on 126 individuals and various groups. One minor was arrested in the raid.
In Thiruvananthapuram rural areas, Biju Prasad, a native of Karippur in Nedumangad, and Mohammed Fahad S, a native of Pullampara, were arrested. Two people identified as Sreejesh of Vallikode and Sujith of Vadasserikkara have been arrested from Pathanamthitta district. Anoop and Rahul Gopi have been arrested from Ernakulam, and Jishnu A, Remith K and Lijesh GP have been arrested from Kannur. Two people have also been arrested from Palakkad and Malappuram districts respectively, though their identities are not known.
The arrested have been charged under section 67 B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act in electronic form.
"The arrested persons have been under our observation for a while. They would download videos from the internet and would share on groups. In the first phase of P Hunt (P stands for pedeophilia), we had nabbed 21 people and in the second phase, five people," High Tech Crime Enquiry Cell Sub Inspector Starmon R Pialli told TNM.
According to a press release from the police on Sunday, this is the third raid targeted at groups and individuals who share nude photos of children on Whatsapp, Facebook and Telegram groups. The people who take part in such groups have been under the police’s scanner.
The police have seized mobile phones, laptops, modems, hard disks, memory cards and computers from the accused.
The raid was conducted under the instruction of nodal officer of ADGP Cyber Dom Manoj Abraham and under the leadership of Starmon R Pillai. District police chiefs also led some of the raids.
The punishment for the crime can attract a five-year prison sentence and Rs 10 lakh fine. The police have also requested the public to alert authorities if they are aware of similar crimes being committed.