CBI busts WhatsApp-based int'l porn racket; 119 booked, 20-yr-old held

Lucknow: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday busted a multinational child pornography racket being run through a WhatsApp group.

The probe agency registered case against five people (group admins) and 114 members of the WhatsApp group for circulating child pornography messages under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The CBI also arrested one of the alleged administrators of the WhatsApp group, Nikhil Verma from Uttar Pradesh.

The 20-year-old suspect, an unemployed B.Com graduate, will be brought to Delhi on transit remand.

The pornographic material was being uploaded in the group named "Kids-XXX" involving people from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Mexico, New Zealand, China, Nigeria, Brazil and Kenya, said the agency according to media reports.

The CBI is conducting searches on the premises of the suspects in Delhi, Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai. According to reports, the probe agency seized tablets, laptops, and mobile phones containing incriminating evidence.

The CBI will investigate if an organised gang was shooting the videos and pictures and selling them in the virtual world, officials said.