CBI to seek extended custody of child porn accused

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought extension of the custody of main accused in Uttar Pradesh’s child pornography case, where over 50 children are suspected to be victims. The agency plans to record statements of the children, believed to be between 5 and 16, after tracking them. So far, CBI has seized close to 700 obscene photographs and three dozen videos, 10 mobile phones, web cameras and a digital video recorder from Rambhawan, a 40-year-old junior engineer with the UP government, who has since been suspended.

“This is one of the most heinous cases CBI has come across,” a source said, adding that it has booked him under Section 377 of IPC (abuse of minors), Section 14 of POCSO Act and Section 67-B of Information Technology Act.

It took three months probe, involving gleaning foreign websites indulging in child porn content to zero in on Rambhawan in Chitrakoot. He used multiple IDs to sell child pornography on the web and earn money. Neeraj Kumar, another engineer arrested by CBI on September 25 on similar charges from UP’s Sonbhadra, also led the CBI to Rambhawan’s door. CBI questioned him and his driver for nearly a fortnight to ascertain facts in the last fortnight.


The UP Police was out of the loop, ET has learnt. It was informed about it only after CBI formally arrested Rambhawan on November 16. It promptly suspended him citing extreme depravity of the offence. “The accused was living in a rented accommodation in Banda’s SDM Colony with his wife and led a normal life. The house has been sealed by authorities. He used multiple online identities to sell child porn to websites and was confronted with technical and forensic evidence,” a CBI source said.

In an official statement, CBI alleged that the accused physically abused children and recorded the acts using mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices. “These photographs and video films containing child sexual abuse material were published and transmitted by the accused using the facility of internet… The accused used Darkweb for sale, transmission and sharing of such content with other individuals,” CBI said in an official statement. Last year, CBI had formed an online child sexual abuse and exploitation prevention/ investigation unit for probing matters pertaining to online child sexual abuse and exploitation.