CBI charge sheets 4 including tainted Banda JE in a fresh child sexual abuse case

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against four people, including the mastermind and a railway loco pilot posted in Rourkela, for alleged sexual abuse of three children aged 9 to 12 years over three years, officials said Tuesday.

The CBI has also alleged that assistant loco pilot Ajit Kumar, alleged mastermind Ajay Kumar Gupta, his accomplice Avanish Kumar Singh, both from Chandauli, and former junior engineer in Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department Ram Bhawan were disseminating Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) through WhatsApp and Telegram, they said.

Bhawan was arrested in November, 2020 for allegedly exploiting over 50 children in Banda where he was posted and circulating explicit videos and images of his actions with children on social media and messaging groups.

During the probe, the CBI had received information from Interpol, Singapore about a module run by Gupta in which Kumar and Bhawan were also active participants in disseminating CSAM material, they said.

The investigation showed that Gupta, Kumar and Singh had allegedly sexually exploited three children, in 9-12 years age group, from Chandauli during 2019-22, recorded their acts to be sold on internet and messaging apps, they said.

In its charge sheet filed before a Chandauli Special Court recently, the CBI has slapped stringent provisions of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO)against all four accused.

The CBI has alleged that loco pilot Kumar, posted at South Eastern Railway, Rourkela (Odisha), was in touch with Bhawan, Gupta and several unidentified individuals through Blued and Grindr – both social networking platforms for LGBTQ community, the agency has said.

The agency has alleged that Kumar was also receiving money from Gupta for sharing the sex abuse material, they said.

"It has been revealed that the said person (Gupta) lured minor victims by interacting with them in a friendly manner, offering them his mobile phone for playing video games, giving them chocolates, sweets, small gifts and some money.

"He took nude photographs of victims and also threatened them with dire consequences if they raise voice against their exploitation," a statement from the agency said.

The minor victims had no option but to follow the directions of Gupta and Kumar at this stage, officials said.

"Later on, the accused (Gupta) also called another person(Avnish Kumar Singh) who runs a private institute in Chandauli for sexually assaulting children," the statement said.

The CBI found that the children were forced and instigated to perform sexual activities with each other as well.

"The accused captured such activities on a mobile phone and further transmitted the same through various social media platforms and applications such as Whatsapp and Telegram etc," the CBI statement said.

The agency had registered a fresh case against Bhawan and Kumar, based on Interpol input, on April 29 this year on allegations that they shared and exchanged photos and videos of children in obscene, indecent, and sexually explicit manner between January 2015 and February, 2016.

During the probe, links between Kumar, Gupta and Singh were also established and victims were identified, they said.

The agency arrested the three who are now in judicial custody while Bhawan was already in judicial custody in connection with the Banda case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)