Faisalabad: FIA arrests 2 in child pornography case with help of US organisation

• The two suspects were traced with the help of information provided by a United States-based organisation.
• The suspects involved in uploading inappropriate videos of women and children on the web.
• FIA arrests suspects and registers case under cybercrime act.

FAISALABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested two individuals allegedly involved in child pornography, Geo News reported Wednesday. 

Per the report, the two suspects were traced with the help of information provided by a United States-based organisation specialising in preventing violent crimes against children. The information was relayed to Pakistan via Interpol, an international organisation that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.

The suspects — identified as Sultan and Ameen — were allegedly involved in uploading and disseminating hundreds of inappropriate videos of women and children on the web.

The FIA's cybercrime said that all the videos have been confiscated during a raid.

The suspects have been taken into custody and two cases have been registered against them under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

Back in July, the FIA had arrested four suspects on charges of working for an international child pornography ring after launching a cross-country crackdown. The agency said that the action was carried out upon the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The FIA has said that global anti-crime agency Interpol had shared relevant information regarding the suspects with Islamabad, following which the law enforcement agency had moved to make the arrests.

The ring was being operated from the United States, the FIA had said.

A suspect, identified as Arsalan, was arrested from Sialkot. He was in contact with the group, said the agency.

According to the FIA, the ring sold pornographic material featuring minors. Officials confiscated 225GB of data from Arsalan alone.

The agency said it was investigating the matter further to uncover more illegal activity and will take appropriate action.

The FIA, using the input from Interpol, also cracked down on suspects in various other cities.

Three suspects allegedly involved in child pornography were arrested from Karachi, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala.

The FIA said it seized illegal content from the possession of the suspects, adding that further investigation was underway. 

Criminalisation of child pornography

In 2016, Pakistan had criminalised child pornography in a historic first, making the offence punishable with seven years in prison and a fine of Rs0.7 million.

The new amendment, titled Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2015, also criminalised child trafficking within the country.

The initiative came after the country was rocked by a major paedophilia scandal in August 2015, when it was revealed that hundreds of pornographic videos of children from Hussain Khanwala village in the Punjab province had been made and were being circulated online.