MUMBAI: Five youths, including three college students, all
members of an international
WhatsApp group that uploaded and circulated child
pornography, were arrested by Navghar police in Bhayander on Friday. So far, no minor has been found in the group that has 217 members, seven of whom are abroad.
Those arrested are aged between 18 and 25 and come from middle-class families. They were picked up from their homes in Mulund, Chembur, Thane, Bhayander and Virar after their addresses were traced through the cellphone numbers used on the group titled ‘BB Bad Boys,’ said Atul Kulkarni, assistant superintendent of police, Bhayander.
The group administrator, who is from Tuticorin, an industrial city in Tamil Nadu, is absconding. Around 42 members are from Maharashtra. Others are from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Seven Indians residing in Muscat, UK and US are part of the group. Police have not ruled out the possibility of girls and women on the group.
The crime came to light when a 26-year-old member, a Bhayander resident, approached cyber security consultant Ritesh Bhatia. He is now the complainant in the case and his identity is withheld.
The complainant told Bhatia that the group, initially created for adult pornography, gradually began to upload child porn. “The complainant wanted to exit the group as a lot of videos involving abuse and involvement of children in sexual acts began to be circulated,” said Bhatia, who helped the complainant approach cops. At least 20 members were found to have uploaded, circulated and commented on such videos.
Police have so far traced the five accused, three of whom are in college and two are employed in offices in Mumbai. All had given dummy names on the group. Police teams have been formed to track down the addresses of other numbers on the group.
Bhatia said that five such videos were uploaded daily.
The accused have been booked under Section 67(B) of IT Act for punishment for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit act in an electronic form. They have been remanded to judicial custody by Thane court. Kulkarni said they may slap Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocsoa) sections too.