PANAJI
A joint team of Delhi and Goa units of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scanned through various locations in Goa as a part of searches in 20 states in connection with two cases of circulation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) online as part of Operation ‘Meghachakra.'
The search was carried out across the coastal stretch suspected to be operating as facilities to circulate audio-visuals of illicit sexual activities with minors. Sources said the team will camp in Goa for the next couple of days to interact with the concerned officers and interrogate suspects.
"Goa has reported cases of sexual abuse among minors in the past coupled with arrests. The leads provided by the intelligence squad indicate Goa could have been one of the hubs to exploit children including girls. Inquiries are on," an official said.
Raids were conducted at 56 locations across the country and a Union Territory in connection with the online circulation of child sexual abuse material.
Today's search operation, "Operation Meghchakra", is the central probe agency's biggest crackdown against the circulation of child pornography videos and images so far, officials said, adding that the raids are aimed at identifying and taking action against the individuals and gangs involved in distributing such material through social media platforms, and blackmailing minors.
The search operation was launched by the CBI after receiving inputs from the Interpol office in Singapore, they added.
Officials said the operation is a follow-up of raids conducted by the CBI last year as part of a similar operation - "Operation Carbon" - that targeted the peddlers who were involved in circulating child pornographic material using cloud storage facilities.
Last week, the Supreme Court had asked the centre to submit a detailed report on the mechanism in place to monitor the child pornography cases.
The top court had also sought a status report from the internet companies in the matter.
The Supreme Court has been looking into the issue of child pornography since 2015 when an NGO had written to then Chief Justice H L Dattu regarding circulation of two rape videos.
In 2018, during a hearing, both the government and internet giants, including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, agreed that videos of rape and child pornography needed to be "stamped out".
