A link was found with an individual in UP’s Prayagraj on Wednesday, 18 November, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a junior engineer of the state government for sexually abusing over 50 children over a 10-year period and circulating child sex abuse material on the dark web.
The individual from Prayagraj is also being interrogated by the agency.
CBI officials said that the abused children, who are between 5 and 16 years old, came from three districts across the state – Banda, Chitrakoot and Hamirpur, reported NDTV.
More Details
The NDTV report further stated that the accused was arrested from Banda and will be produced before the court. CBI officials also suspect that he may not have been operating alone.
On conducting raids at the accused's residence, the CBI discovered eight mobile phones, around 8 lakh rupees in cash, sex toys, a laptop and other digital evidence, including a large volume of child sexual abuse material.
During the course of the investigation the accused told the agency that he bribed the children with mobiles phone and other electronic gadgets so that they keep silent.
The Prayagraj Link
According to sources, the junior engineer used to take videos to the individual in Prayagraj, and there he would edit and upload them on the dark web.
More arrests are expected in the case.
Sexual Abuse of Children in India
Data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in January this year showed that over 100 children are sexually abused in India every day. This number is a 22 percent jump from the previous year.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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