Youth held for circulating child pornography in Kochi

KOCHI: A youth who was involved in circulating child pornographic content through online media landed in the police net on Sunday. Jinu Baby, 31, a native of Thodupuzha, who is residing on Azad Road in Kaloor was arrested followed by a raid conducted as part of Operation P-Hunt, a special police drive to curb similar activities. The police conducted simultaneous raids at three locations in the city. Three cases were also registered.

“Jinu, the accused, was a member of several Instagram and Whatsapp groups sharing pornographic contents. Several videos of sexual abuse of children under the age of six to 15 have been recovered from his mobile phone. Besides, about 1,000 obscene videos also recovered from his possession,” said an officer. The arrested was an MBA degree holder.

The State Police Cyberdome has received a tip-off that child pornography being widely circulated via online and launched an investigation. “The disseminating of child pornography would attract a punishment of imprisonment for five years and a fine of  Rs 10 lakh,” added the officer.

Jinu Baby was produced before the court which remanded him to judicial custody on Sunday. A team led by Siby Tom, Inspector, Ernakulam North, comprising V B Anas, SI, and Vinod Krishna, ASI, made the arrest.Operation P-Hunt is a special drive launched by the police last year against child pornography and crimes against children in the state.