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A shocking case of an Indian couple involved in sexual exploitation of minors in the United States of America and active involvement in recording and selling of Child Sexual Abuse Material online has been unearthed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The CBI special unit has arrested a man in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir and booked him under section 14 of Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act and section 67-B of the Information Technology Act.
He is accused of running a CSAM racket and targetting minors living in the USA. “Accused had uploaded the child sexual abuse material videos and images over the dark web for financial gains and was in direct communication with many minors in the USA,” said the CBI.
Sources say arrested accused Niaz Ahmed Mir (35) was earning his living by selling these banned materials online. Working on a tip-off from a foreign agency, a case was registered by the CBI at its headquarters in New Delhi three days back.
During the investigation, it was found that his wife, Tamara Stanley, who lives in Washington is an active participant in the crime. His wife Tamara Stanley was arrested by US Authorities on 25th June
“On Mir’s direction, Tamara allegedly exploited several minors. She recorded the physical abuse and then shared the CSAM electronically with him,” said a CBI official.
CBI’s probe also revealed that Mir used to threaten minors in the USA to follow his orders and if they fail to do so he will share these explicit videos with their family members and neighbours.
In the searches conducted at Mir’s residence in Srinagar, the CBI has seized three laptops, five mobile phones, pen drives and handwritten notes. Seized material will be sent for examination to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.
The accused will be produced before a special court and his remand for custodial interrogation will be sought.
“CBI regularly coordinates with international law enforcement agencies to detect & investigate sexual abuse of minors, especially over the cyberspace and also reaffirms its commitment towards promoting cooperation with US Law Enforcement Agencies in combating child sexual abuse in cyberspace,” said the CBI in a statement.
In November, the CBI had arrested a junior engineer (now suspended) for sexually abusing 50 minor boys over a period of a decade. The accused had targetted children living in central Uttar Pradesh districts of Chitrakoot, Banda and Hamirpur.
