MUMBAI: According to the media reports, a small-time television artist from Mumbai has been booked by the CBI for illegal activities.
The man hailing from the television industry was allegedly running an international racket selling sexually explicit content comprising minors from abroad. According to the officials of the CBI, the accused obtained the content by enticing and blackmailing minors on the popular photo-sharing application Instagram.
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The report further mentioned that over 1,000 users, comprising of minors between 10 and 16 years of age across the US, Europe and South Asian countries were contacted by the man through Instagram.
The residence of the accused, who claimed to be a junior artist in television serials and hails from Haridwar, was recently searched by the agency. The agency has also seized his electronic gadgets including mobile and laptop. The forensic analysis of the devices threw up material related to online sexual abuse, which the TV artist allegedly circulated to his clients internationally over WhatsApp and other platforms.
The accused reportedly used to pose as a film star to lure and entice minors into online relationships. Once he achieved his goal of luring them, he would ask them for pornographic photographs and videos, with which he would trap them in his illicit net.
The accused would then take their WhatsApp numbers to chat with them. And during video calls, he would ask them to perform sexual acts which would be shared with his clients in various countries through the photo sharing application.
The report further mentioned that if a victim decided to stop meeting such demands or maintaining contact with him, the man used to threaten him to send their sexually explicit pictures to their families and friends. The agency has charged him under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the Information Technology Act.
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CREDITS: PTI, TIMES OF INDIA