IIT graduate among 15 held for watching, circulating child porn

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.