Operation Megh Chakra:CBI conducts biggest crackdown on child porn, pan-India raids in massive

Pramesh S Jain & Dr B Thomas (Special Correspondent)

Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday raids at 59 locations across the states pertaining to cases related to child sexual abuse.

The operation under code name-Megh Chakra, was carried out nationwide by several teams to search at around 59 locations in 21 States and union territories including Fatehabad (Haryana), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Kachh(Gujarat), Ghaziabad(Uttar Pradesh),Mursidabad(West Bengal),Mumbai,Pune,Nashik,Thane,Nanded, Solapur,Kolahpur&Nagpur,(Maharashtra),Ranchi (Jharkhand);Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Krishna(Andhra Pradesh),Ram Nagar (Karnataka),Kolar(Karnataka),Faridabad (Haryana),Hathras (Uttar Pradesh),Bengaluru, Kodagu,Raipur (Chhattisgarh),New Delhi; Chelakkara (Kerala),Dindigul (Madurai), Gurdaspur & Hosiarpur(Punjab),Chennai, Dhanbad,Rajkot,Goa,Hyderabad,Ajmer,Jaipur, Cuddalore(Tamil Nadu),Mallapuram (Kerala), Lunavada (Gujarat),Godhra(Gujarat),Guwahati, Dhimaji(Assam),Itanagar(Arunachal Pradesh), Bardhman(West Bengal),Maharajganj(Uttar Pradesh),Saran(Bihar),Bhagalpur(Bihar), Agartala(Tripura) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) in connection with the two cases related to downloading and circulation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

According to the release,the CBI has registered two cases under relevant provisions of IT Act based on an information received from Crime Against Children (CAC),unit of INTERPOL, Singapore which had received the same from New Zealand police for sharing with relevant country.

It was alleged that a number of Indian citizens were involved in circulation,downloading and transmission of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM),using cloud-based storage.

The said information received in INTERPOL from Law enforcement authorities of New Zealand was analyzed and developed by CBI,and suspected persons were identified to locate and disrupt further distribution.

Saturday‘s crackdown was follow up of massive operation (Operation Carbon) carried out by CBI last year against Online Child Sexual Abuse Material.

During searches electronic devices including mobiles,laptops belonging to more than 50 suspects have been recovered.

Preliminary scrutiny of these electronic devices using cyber forensic tools has allegedly revealed the presence of huge quantity of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) in a number of electronic devices.

The suspects are being questioned with regard to the CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) found in their electronic devices so as to identify the child victims and the abusers.

Operation Chakra is one of the CBI-led global operations in recent times for rapid response to online child sexual exploitation cases with international linkages and organized cyber enabled financial crimes with victims,accused, suspects,conspirators located across international jurisdictions,requiring a globally coordinated law enforcement response.

Operation CHAKRA seeks to collate information from various law enforcement agencies within India,engage with relevant law enforcement agencies globally and coordinate closely through INTERPOL channels to combat online child sexual exploitation and such organized cyber criminal activities.

Coordination meetings were organised with INTERPOL and foreign law enforcement agencies for sharing critical information to dismantle such cybercrime networks.

Further Investigation is on,the CBI release said .