NCCIA says it uncovered network selling materials involving children — Dawn
In Pakistan, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said it had uncovered an international network involved in the sexual exploitation of children. According to the agency, a suspect father produced and sold materials involving his children, aged four and five.
NCCIA Deputy Director Mohammad Shoaib Khan announced this at a press conference in Islamabad. As Dawn reports, the official described the case as the first in Pakistan in which a father was suspected of creating and selling such materials involving his own minor children.
Sales through closed groups
According to Khan, the videos were bought and sold in closed Telegram groups using cryptocurrency. Investigators also found scenes of animal abuse in the materials. The alleged leader of the group from Skardu was detained with the assistance of international agencies, the NCCIA representative said.
The agency also reported the discovery of important connections and evidence in Islamabad, Multan and southern Punjab. Law enforcement officers are continuing raids to detain other alleged accomplices of the network.
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Other agency cases
Khan also spoke about a separate investigation in which the NCCIA detained four alleged members of another network after examining about 60 videos found on a child's phone. According to the agency, the suspects met children aged six to 14 through Instagram, offered them money, and later sold the materials in WhatsApp groups and abroad.
Separately, the NCCIA said it had detained in Islamabad the main suspect in the prolonged harassment and blackmail of an underage girl from Karachi. According to Khan, the girl subsequently attempted suicide and is receiving treatment in hospital.
The agency also reported that its director general, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, had ordered a zero-tolerance policy toward the harassment of citizens on social media, especially women and children.
