Srinagar man arrested for allegedly running online child sexual abuse racket

Srinagar: A resident of Jammu and Kashmir has been arrested by the CBI on charge of running an online children sexual abuse racket with the help of his US-based wife.

A Central Bureau of Investigation official said on Tuesday that Mir, a resident of Srinagar, was arrested and searches carried out at his residence that led to seizure of of incriminating digital evidence, including three laptops, five mobile phones, pen drives, and handwritten notes etc.

A case under the Information Technology Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered against Mir for running the racket from India to target minors living in the US.

The FIR claimed that Mir uploaded porn videos and images on the dark web for financial gains and also involved in direct communication with many minors in the US. The CBI said that Mir’s wife Tamara Stanley lives in Washington.

“Mir allegedly operated the racket through his wife, who agreed to get involved in a master-slave relationship with the accused. On his directions, she exploited multiple minors, recorded these abuses, and sent the same to him electronically,” the CBI claimed.

The CBI said that when the victims refused to follow Mir’s dictates, he shared these videos and images with their family members.

The CBI regularly coordinates with international law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate sexual abuse of minors, especially in the cyberspace. It reaffirms its commitment to the promotion of cooperation with US law enforcement agencies in combating child sexual abuse in cyberspace.

The agency arrested a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot on November 16 last on the charge of sexually abusing over 50 children in Chitrakoot, Banda and Hamirpur. (IANS)