The CBI arrested two people in an ongoing investigation of a case related to the alleged sale of child sexual abuse material over Instagram and other social media platforms.
The accused, identified as Neeraj Kumar Yadav and Kuljeet Singh Makan, were arrested on Friday and were remanded to judicial custody up to 22 January by a special CBI court in New Delhi on Saturday, 9 January.
The CBI registered the case against a private person under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, 2012 and Information and Technology Act, 2000 on the allegations that the accused was advertising via his Instagram account for the sale of objectionable material, including child pornographic material.
It was further alleged that the accused purchased a large volume of data from another accused person, which was stored over cloud-based websites containing objectionable material, including child pornography material and paid him through Paytm for the same.
Thereafter, the accused allegedly published an advertisement for the sale of the said material over Instagram, the CBI said.
"On receipt of payments via Paytm or Google Pay from the customers or seekers, the accused was allegedly sharing the objectionable material with them through WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and other social media platforms. It was also alleged that he gained monetary benefits and was indulging in these activities since 2019," the CBI said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)