Child porn tentacles reach Bhopal, 2 WhatsApp groups with international links busted

BHOPAL: Crime branch nabbed a man from Guna for allegedly sharing child pornographic content on social media. The accused was a member of a child pornography group on WhatsApp named ‘Bhabhiji Ghar Pe Hain’ where only child pornographic material was shared. The group was busted by the crime branch last month.

Earlier in October, police had nabbed a mechanic from TT Nagar, who was a member of group.

The admin of the group is said to be an Uttar Pradeshbased man and police have not yet arrested him.

This is the second FIR related to child pornography filed by crime branch, Bhopal . Before this in April, crime branch sleuths had nabbed a 21-year-old sugarcane juice kiosk owner from Piplani, who was a member of a WhatsApp group created specifically to share child pornography. The admin of the group was a Bangladesh-based man. Police are now investigating whether the accused themselves were involved in child abuse as well. Some foreign nationals were found to be members of the groups.

ASP Crime Branch Nishchal Jharia said that the accused Hemant Bhargava (28), is a resident of Bhullanpura in Guna. He was a member of a WhatsApp group engaged in sharing child porn content. He had shared several clips on it. He told police that he came in contact with a man in Mandideep, who told him about the said group. He said the group members collect the content from social media and share it on the group. He said he just became member of the group for fun. Jharia said during the assembly elections, the crime branch was monitoring the online content. Some key words shared on social media platforms were kept under scanner. During investigations police stumbled upon two WhatsApp groups engaged in sharing child pornographic content. Police tracked the WhatsApp group - ‘Bhabhiji Ghar pe hain’ and nabbed accused two-wheeler mechanic Arif Khan (32), a resident of Panchsheel Nagar in October.

Jharia said there were around 150 group members from across MP. The group was created on August 11, 2018. Khan told police that the group admin hails from Rampur in UP. He had come to Khan’s shop in 2018 for some work and then added him to the group. Khan also started sharing pornographic content on the group. Police found child porn clips in Khan’s mobile phone and registered a case against him under section 67(B) (Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form.) of IT Act against him. The crime branch is now trying to find out the source from where the accused accessed the pornographic content and shared it on the group. It is suspected that the accused themselves may have victimised children.

Jharia said earlier in April crime branch nabbed Sanjay Pal (21), a resident of Indrapuri Labour Colony, who operated a sugarcane juice kiosk. He was a member of WhatsApp group — ‘Crazy Kids’ on which child porn content was being shared. People were added in the group through Internet link. The group admin was said to be from Bangladesh . There were 257 members in the group including 144 foreign nationals.