CBI identifies 10 more victims of child abuse by suspended UP JE, records their statement

The CBI has identified 10 more victims of alleged child sexual abuse by now-suspended Uttar Pradesh Irrigation department junior engineer Ram Bhuwan, the alleged paedophile also accused of selling the illicit acts with kids on the dark web, officials said.

Further expanding its exhaustive probe, the central probe agency recorded the statement of these 10 male victims to buttress its charges against Bhuwan who was arrested along with his wife and a suspected accomplice, they said. The person arrested from the national capital, whose identity is being kept secret by the CBI, is understood to be an important link in unravelling the mystery of 50-year old junior engineer using the dark web to sell child sexual abuse material and making money from it, they said.

The agency team has so far identified around 35 victims and is in the process of identifying others, they said. The CBI is also working on deciphering digital evidence from recoveries made during searches at the premises of Bhuwan and his suspected accomplice, they said.

The agency had recently filed its charge sheet before a special court in Banda in which the CBI had presented statements of about 25 victims, all males between the age of 4-22 years, and reports of digital evidence collected during searches at residence of Bhuwan.

The JE was arrested on Nov 16, 2020 while his wife was taken into custody on Dec 28, 2020.

They were nabbed by a newly established special CBI unit, which is handling online child sexual abuse, after trailing him for days, they said. Both are in judicial custody.