CBI launches operation 'Megh-Chakra' against online child sexual abuse

HYDERABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday launched a major operation code named "Operation Megh-Chakra" against circulation and sharing of child sexual abuse material online and conducted raids at 56 locations in 20 states and union territories.

According to reports, the operation was initiated based on inputs shared by the International Police Organisation, Interpol, New Zealand, which was passed on to the CBI though Singapore.

A similar operation "Operation Carbon" was carried out by CBI in November 2021 when raids were conducted at 76 locations across the country against 83 persons and several persons were arrested.

CBI has always been a nodal agency for the Interpol, which has an International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) image and video database, which allows investigators from member countries to share data on cases of child sexual abuse.

Used by 64 countries including India, ICSE has helped identify 23,500 survivors and 10,752 offenders worldwide from the 2.3 million images and videos the database has. It has a provision of sharing data – both in an open network that can be accessed by all the countries as well as with specific countries.

CBI also has constituted a special unit called Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/ Investigation (OCSAE) since 2019 for investigating matters pertaining to online child sexual abuse and exploitation. Apart from receiving various references/information, the unit undertook investigation of various offences relating to online child sexual abuse and exploitation. It collated and investigated information received from the embassies and overseas federal probe agencies about organised rackets which were active in online child sexual abuse and exploitation.