CBI books man for selling child sexual abuse material through messaging app

NEW DELHI: The CBI has booked a person for allegedly selling child sexual abuse material for Rs 250 per customer through messaging application Telegram, officials said on Friday.

The special unit of the CBI on "Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/ Investigation" carried out searches at the premises of the accused in Delhi.

The team recovered the mobile phone used for spreading and selling child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and sent it for forensic examination.

The accused had created three accounts and 20 groups on messaging application Telegram for marketing and selling such material.

"It was also alleged that in response to the advertisement and after bargaining with customers, the accused received payments via Paytm and Google Pay, etc.

On receipt of payments, the accused allegedly shared the links of various groups and channels of Telegram, in which objectionable material including CSAM, was being shared with members," CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said.

The accused allegedly sold obscene videos and photos, including CSAM, for an amount of Rs 250 per customer who would be added into these groups and channels, he said.

The CBI shares only skeletal details of cases pertaining to child sexual abuse.