Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) on Wednesday, June 18, arrested 15 people for viewing and circulating Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM). The arrests were made during a one-day statewide operation by the Bureau’s child protection unit, said TGCSB director Shikha Goel.
“15 individuals have been arrested from different areas of Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, and Jagtial for their involvement in browsing, forwarding, and circulating child sexual abuse material,” Shikha Goel told the media.
The accused were repeat offenders involved in around 57 tipline complaints, the IPS officer added. The tiplines were from the Interpol, routed through the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to The Times of India.
Thirty-four cases have been registered against the 15 accused under sections of the Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, of which 17 were registered in various cybercrime police stations of TGCSB.
The accused were aged between 19 and 50 years old, with a majority of them being in their 20s from “middle-class backgrounds”, Shikha Goel told ToI, adding that one of them was an IIT Kharagpur graduate. She also said that the victims in the CSEAM seemed to be aged six to 14 years, predominantly girls from other countries.
The child protection unit of TGCSB was started in February 2025 to curb the circulation of CSEAM. Since its formation, 294 FIRs have been registered and 110 accused have been arrested in similar cases, Shikha Goel told the media, adding, “In this instance, we concentrated on people who have repeated tiplines against them, who are habitual in viewing such material.”