Child porn racket busted, MCA grad circulated videos

TH I RU VAN ANT HAP U RAM: The cyber crime wing of the Kerala police has busted a child porn racket with the arrest an M CA graduate from Malappuram and seized hundreds of photos and videos involving minors.

Police said K Sharaf Ali, 24, collected pornographic material from social media and other sources and traded them under various names on Telegram, an instant messaging system that he considered comparatively safer for his operations. He had been broadcasting offensive clips to more than a lakh subscribers every day, police said.

“We have been tracking him for the past six months. Some of the videos were really disturbing involving two- to five-year-old children. We have identified some of the sources from where he procured these videos,” said a senior police officer, adding that more arrest will take place in coming days.

The group on Telegram that he used frequently was closed down on November 28 when he anticipated trouble. “Besides the group, Ali had four different groups... with over 5,000 followers in each group. Only the administrator was allowed to upload videos. We have to find out how he managed returns,” said the police officer.

A medical transcriptionist who gained the admin’s trust

and joined the group helped the police crack the case. Ali has been slapped with various sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Information Technology Act. Produced before a court in Malappuram, he has been remanded in two weeks’ police custody.