The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a resident of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, for allegedly running an online child sexual abuse racket that targeted several minors living in the United States.
The accused, it is said, uploaded pornographic videos and images over the darkweb for financial gains.
Niyaz Ahmed Mir has been booked under the Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
“Searches on the premises of the accused in Srinagar led to the seizure of incriminating digital evidence, three laptops, five mobile phones, pen drives and handwritten notes,” said a CBI official. Mir'’ wife, Tamara Stanley Mir, is a U.S. national and lives in Washington.
While there was no confirmation from the agency, a U.S. Department of Justice release dated June 29 stated that one Tamara Stanley, a resident of Grays Harbor County of Southwest Washington State, was arrested on June 25 and charged with production of child pornography. The offence is punishable with a minimum 15 years in jail in India and up to 30 years’ imprisonment in the U.S..
The case, being pursued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Airway Heights and Hoquiam Police Departments, was brought as part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006.
The CBI alleged that Mir operated through his wife, who had agreed to be in a “master-slave” relationship with him. On his instructions, she exploited multiple minors, recorded the acts and sent the videos to him electronically. When the victims refused to follow his dictate, he shared the videos and images with their family members, the agency alleged.
The arrest came weeks after the CBI nabbed a resident of Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh on the charge of sexually abusing more than 50 children in Chitrakoot, Banda and Hamirpur. He also allegedly sold video clips and photographs through the darkweb.
During searches, the agency had seized mobile phones, laptops, web-camera, pen drives, memory cards and sex toys.
Some of the victims have been tracked down.
