47 persons including IT professionals arrested for circulating obscene images of children

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala police on Saturday arrested 47 persons for allegedly sharing and circulating obscene images and videos of children. In a statewide drive under Operation P-Hunt, the police also registered 89 cases and seized 143 gadgets including mobile phones, laptops and hard disks.

According to sources, those arrested include several IT professionals and others occupying high positions across the state. Earlier, Kerala Cyberdome and police's Countering Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE) had discovered that there has been an increase in the number of online child abuse cases during the lockdown period.

Following this, state police chief Loknath Behera had ordered to conduct a search regarding the matter. The search was conducted by 117 teams across the state under the leadership of Crime Branch IG S Sreejith.