In Pakistan, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) busted a child pornography racket. The agency’s Cyber Crime Cell stated on Friday (April 1, 2022) that gang members used to sexually exploit children and earn money by selling their videos on the dark web. Five members of the gang, including a woman, have been apprehended, and the search for the remaining suspects is ongoing.
Some members of the gang have been identified as Arslan Arshad, Ammad Shahzad, Moazam, Talha, Qamar alias Doda, Abid Ali and a woman named Asma.
In its preliminary investigation, the FIA discovered that members of this gang sexually abused and videotaped at least ten children and then sold the video on the dark web, against which they got paid in dollars. These accused lived in a private housing society on the outskirts of Punjab’s capital Lahore, where they raped the children by luring them with money and other inducements and filmed the entire ordeal.
According to the FIA, the accused not only sexually exploited the victims by luring them, but they also continued to sexually exploit them and extort money by blackmailing them to leak the video on social media. In case any boy objected, the gang members threatened to make the video go viral.
The father of a victim, who is also the complainant in the case said that the two accused, Arslan Arshad and Ammad Shahzad, who live in a private housing society, formed a gang to persuade teenagers in the neighbourhood. They then sexually exploited them and recorded the act without their consent. The accused uploaded the videos on the internet to earn money.
According to the complainant, the gang had also trapped his son. On February 15, 2022, the accused took the victim to the upper portion of his house and sexually assaulted him while filming a video.
Later, Arsalan shared the video with his friend Abid through WhatsApp.
Following receipt of the complaint, the agency launched an investigation and arrested Abid Ali from Arifwala tehsil, district Pakpattan in Pakistan. Authorities stated that they recovered a large number of videos of child pornography from his phone, and the main accused, Arslan, could also be seen raping minors in the videos.
The accused admitted to FIA cyber wing officials that the gang members namely, Arslan, Ammad, Moazam, and Talha, enticed minor children by offering them money and valuable gifts and then videotaped them. “They later provide the video to a woman named Asma and her driver, Qamar alias Doda.”
The accused have been charged by the FIA Cyber Crime Cell Lahore under Sections 20, 21, and 22 of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (PECA) 2016 and Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
According to local media reports, FIA Cyber Crime Cell is also conducting raids to arrest the other accused persons.
