FIA arrests man accused of obtaining, distributing child pornography on social media

Published December 29, 2020
The Federal investigation Agency's (FIA) Cybercrime Wing (CCW) on Tuesday arrested a man in Islamabad who was accused of obtaining and sharing child pornography on social media platforms. — Creative Commons/File
The Federal investigation Agency's (FIA) Cybercrime Wing (CCW) on Tuesday arrested a man in Islamabad who was accused of obtaining and sharing child pornography on social media platforms. — Creative Commons/File

The Federal investigation Agency's (FIA) Cybercrime Wing (CCW) on Tuesday arrested a man in Islamabad, who was accused of obtaining and sharing child pornography on social media platforms.

According to a first information report (FIR) lodged by the FIA, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the accused, Jameel Khan, "illegally and unauthorisedly created, administered and operated" groups on Facebook and WhatsApp for the "sole purpose of obtaining, sharing, consuming, possessing and disseminating pornographic and sexually explicit videos/pictures of minors".

The FIR stated that Khan, through his Facebook profile and WhatsApp groups used to "disseminate, transmit, upload, share and upload sexually explicit and exploitation videos/pictures of minors publicly on social media".

A case has been registered against him under Section 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person), Section 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor) and Section 22 (child pornography) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

"[The] role of other involved person/s, if any, will be thrashed out during investigation," the FIR added.

Earlier this year, the FIA CCW announced the arrest of six suspects linked with a child pornographic ring, in two separate raids at various neighbourhoods of Karachi, including Gulistan-i-Jauhar and a housing society at Drigh Road.

Read | Society: A dark and ugly world

The suspects' arrests marked the first unearthing of an organised child pornographic ring functional in Sindh connected to an international syndicate. Before this, the FIA had reportedly busted rings based in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Sargodha and Kasur.

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