Chandigarh, June 27 (IANS) Punjab’s Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Friday that in a major crackdown on online child exploitation, the state police’s Cybercrime Division has arrested two people and identified 33 suspects involved in viewing, transmitting and distributing of child sexual exploitative and abusive material (CSEAM) using various online platforms.

The operation, codenamed CSEAM-4, conducted on Thursday, spanned 40 locations across 18 districts and three Commissionerates following actionable cyber tip-lines from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The Supreme Court in a judgement had clarified that viewing, possessing and not reporting CSEAM content is punishable under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.

The CSEAM refers to any content depicting or exploiting minors in a sexual manner, including photos, videos or media, which is illegal to produce, distribute or possess, causing long-lasting harm to victims and considered a severe form of child exploitation due to the lasting impact it has on the victims.

Those arrested have been identified as Akash Babu, a resident of Khanna, and Harpreet Singh, a resident of Morinda.

DGP Yadav added that the State Cyber Crime Cell meticulously analysed digital evidence from platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram to track offenders.

He said that during the operation, 33 suspects were identified across Punjab, with teams from field units dispatched under the guidance of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Cybercrime V. Neeraja.

The raids lead to the registration of two first information reports (FIRs) and the seizure of 34 mobile phones, which have been sent for forensic analysis to recover deleted data, with more arrests anticipated, DGP Yadav added.

The DGP said that based on the examination more FIRs will be registered and suspects involved in CSEAM crimes will be arrested.

ADGP Neeraja said the cyber tiplines are generated on the basis of online activity on CSEAM, particularly on platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.

The reports from I4-C are meticulously analysed by the Cyber crime prevention against women and children unit of the State Cybercrime office under Inspector Prabhjot Kaur to identify the offenders and their locations, she added.

–IANS

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