Latest news with #TelanganaCyberSecurityBureau
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
15 repeat offenders arrested in Telangana for circulating child porn; one is IIT graduate
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB)'s Child Protection Unit (CPU) arrested 15 men on Wednesday for repeatedly watching, saving, and sharing child sexual abuse material (CSEAM). The arrests happened in a single-day of the arrested is a 30-year-old software engineer who graduated from IIT-Kharagpur. He works at a Hyderabad-based company and reportedly earns ₹35 lakh a year. He lives with his wife and daughter. Another arrested man is an unemployed engineering graduate from Yadagirigutta who had been caught earlier in a similar TGCSB said that all the men were previously linked to 34 earlier cases of child abuse material, including 17 directly handled by the bureau. This latest action was based on 57 complaints passed on by Interpol through the Union Home arrested men are between 19 and 50 years old, mostly in their 20s, and come from middle-class families. They work in different fields like software, construction, auto repair, and sales. All of them are now in judicial Director Shikha Goel said the disturbing content showed children between 6 and 14 years of age. The men were charged under the IT Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.[With TOI inputs]
Hindustan Times
21 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
IIT graduate working at tech firm arrested as child sexual predator in Telangana
The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau has arrested 15 people in a state-wide crackdown on online child sexual predators. Most of the arrested are educated men in their 20s, and one is an IIT graduate working at a software company, said an NDTV report. Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau director Shikha Goel said the operation targetted repeat offenders. The arrested are accused of uploading, storing, and circulating nude and sexually explicit videos of minors. One was an IIT graduate working at a reputed firm, another was an engineering graduate looking for a job. They have all been accused of uploading nude and sexually explicit videos of minor girls, aged between 6 and 14. The majority of the victims appear to be from outside the country. 'Most of the Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) appears to involve foreign individuals, with victims between 6 to 14 years of age. Ninety per cent of the content pertains to girls. All arrested accused have been sent to judicial remand,' Shikha Goel was quoted as saying by Telangana Today. Goel also told NDTV that the arrested sexual predators appeared to be part of a single group sharing sexual material targetting minors. "All of them appeared to be part of closed user groups sharing such material. Whether they are part of any organised gang or cartel is still under investigation,' she said. Arrests were made after a day-long operation that spanned the state. The 15 habitual offenders were linked to 57 cyber tipline complaints - they are all educated men from middle-class families, aged between 19 to 50. After the operation, 34 FIRs were registered under various Sections of the Information Technology Act and the POCSO Act. The suspects were arrested in a coordinated effort across Hyderabad, Yadagirigutta, Karimnagar, Warangal, Jagtial, and Jagadgirigutta.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
IIT graduate among 15 held for watching, circulating child porn
Representative Image HYDERABAD: Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB)'s child protection unit (CPU) on Wednesday arrested 15 repeat offenders for watching, storing, and distributing Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM). Among the arrested is a 30-year-old IIT-Kharagpur graduate employed at a Hyderabad-based software firm, reports Mahesh Buddi. The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. All of them are currently in judicial custody. The operation targeted individuals linked to 57 CSEAM complaints flagged by Interpol tip lines and routed through the Union home ministry. "All 15 were picked up in a single-day operation. These are repeat offenders linked to 34 previous cases, including 17 registered directly by TGCSB," said TGCSB director Shikha Goel. Among the accused, the IIT graduate allegedly earns Rs 35 lakh per annum and resides in Hyderabad with his wife and daughter. Another accused is an unemployed engineering graduate from Yadagirigutta with a prior CSEAM case. Others work in varied occupations, including automobile repair, construction, and retail sales. "The accused are aged between 19 and 50, mostly in their twenties, and largely from middle-class backgrounds. The children in the content appear to be aged between 6 and 14 years," Goel added.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
IIT graduate among 15 arrested in Telangana for circulating online child sexual content
The Telangana Police on Wednesday arrested 15 individuals, including an IIT graduate, during a statewide crackdown against the circulation of online child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM). The operation targeted repeat offenders involved in uploading, storing, and circulating nudes and sexually exploitative videos of minors, mostly appearing to be foreign, in the age group of 6 to 14 years, with 90 per cent of content pertaining to girls, said Shikha Goel, director, Telangana Cyber Security Bureau on Thursday. The accused are mostly educated and belong to working and middle-class groups, with the IIT graduate working in a reputed company, Goel said. They are in the age group of 19 and 50 years and have been arrested from Hyderabad, Yadagirigutta, Karimnagar, Warangal, Jagitial, and Jagadgirigutta. They have been booked under Section 67B of the IT Act and Section 15 of the Pocso Act. 'The accused are usually part of certain closed social media groups where such content is available for sale and purchase. Browsing content on sites is restricted. But they go on the dark web, where such content is freely accessible. We have so far blocked 220 websites. I want to stress that even browsing such content online is an offence and action will be taken,' she added. The arrested have been remanded in judicial custody, and an investigation is on to identify the victims, trace the origin of the content, establish the exact role of the accused, and dismantle their criminal networks, Goel added. The child protection unit of Telangana Police works as the nodal agency for CSEAM-related complaints. It was established within the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau in February 2025 and proactively monitors and acts upon the digital circulation of CSEAM material. Since its formation, in the last four months, the CPU has registered 294 First Information Reports (FIRs) and apprehended 110 accused, as compared to 37 FIRs and 34 arrests during the previous two years. 'Browsing exploitative content involving children is an offence and anyone involved in circulating the same is on our radar. We will definitely track them down and take action. As part of our one-day operation, we focused on repeat offenders,' Goel stated. Rahul V Pisharody is an Assistant Editor with the Indian Express Online and has been reporting from Telangana on various issues since 2019. Besides a focused approach to big news developments, Rahul has a keen interest in stories about Hyderabad and its inhabitants and looks out for interesting features on the city's heritage, environment, history culture etc. His articles are straightforward and simple reads in sync with the context. Rahul started his career as a journalist in 2011 with The New Indian Express and worked in different roles at the Hyderabad bureau for over 8 years. As Deputy Metro Editor, he was in charge of the Hyderabad bureau of the newspaper and coordinated with the team of district correspondents, centres and internet desk for over three years. A native of Palakkad in Kerala, Rahul has a Master's degree in Communication (Print and New Media) from the University of Hyderabad and a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. Long motorcycle rides and travel photography are among his other interests. ... Read More
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
15 held across Telangana for circulating child sexual abuse material
A total of 15 habitual offenders involved in digital circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSEAM) were arrested by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB). The accused The accused were identified as 24-year-old Mir Zakir Mohiuddin Ali Khan from Charminar; 30-year-old Prasad Kumar from Secunderabad; 23-year-old Syed Faheem Uddin, also from Charminar; 23-year-old Guramm Mahesh from Atmakur in Yadadri district; and 25-year-old Mohd Baseer Ahmed Quraishi from Mallepally. Others include 29-year-old Shaik Ameer, 25-year-old Silmula Marteen and 31-year-old Palancha Sandeep, all from Nizamabad; 50-year-old Battula Anjaneyulu, 29-year-old A. Siba Dora, and 28-year-old Md Jalal Uddin, all from Karimnagar; 30-year-old Imran Mohammed, from Hanumakonda; 19-year-old Siddhartha, from Korutla, Jagtial; 20-year-old Errola Shiva, from Saroornagar and 19-year-old Abed Alam Khan from Qutbullapur. The arrests were made during a coordinated State-wide operation conducted on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) by the bureau's specialised Child Protection Unit (CPU), which has been monitoring habitual offenders engaged in the uploading, storage and distribution of exploitative content involving minors. The arrested individuals were picked up from multiple districts including Hyderabad, Yadadri, Karimnagar, Warangal, Jagtial and Jagadgirigutta. All 15 were found to be repeat offenders, linked to at least 57 cyber tipline complaints. The operation resulted in 34 First Information Reports being registered under the IT Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, including 17 cases taken up by TGCSB's Cyber Crime Police Stations (CCPS). The CSEAM content recovered in the operation primarily involved foreign victims, with children aged between 6 and 14 years. Nearly 90% of the content pertained to girls. Most of the accused belong to working- and middle-class backgrounds, officials said. Social media patrolling and dark web crawling TGCSB Director Shikha Goel said the bureau had also blocked nearly 200 websites linked to CSEAM material as part of the operation. She explained that multiple methods are being used to track down such activity. 'One is the tipline analysis. The bureau is also involved in in-house social media patrolling and dark web crawling to identify the accused involved in sharing such content,' Ms. Goel said. The investigation, she added, is still ongoing to identify the victims, trace the origin of the content and determine whether the accused were involved in its creation. 'We are suspecting that the accused could have downloaded the content from either open platforms or purchased it on dark web. However, we are also investigating to identify the source of the content to see if they were involved in its creation,' she noted. Action against social media companies The official also hinted that action will be taken against social media companies. 'Social media platforms are expected to carry out due diligence and block the users who are sharing such content. In this case, action will be taken against the social media platforms where the content was traced.' She further stressed the need for stricter norms to be enforced by platform operators to ensure timely action against those circulating such material. The officer also warned that even browsing such material is a punishable offence and will attract action by the police.
