February 8th, 2021
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
A suspect arrested on a tip from Interpol is being investigated for links with international child pornography ring, an official from the Federal Investigation Agency told Voicepk.net on Monday.
Speaking to Voicepk.net, Muhammad Iqbal, deputy director of FIA, Gujranwala, said the agency had arrested the suspect from Sialkot for sharing pornographic videos and pictures of children on social media platforms and the dark web. He said information about the suspect was received from Italy though the Interpol. “Acting on the tip-off, we located the suspect and arrested him along with a laptop and cell phone,” Iqbal said, adding that dozens of child porn videos were found on the seized equipment.
The FIA official said that the investigations were ongoing as to whether the suspect himself filmed these videos by exploiting local children as part of an international child porn ring. “The objectionable videos pertained to local and foreign children,” he said, adding that possession and sharing of child pornography was illegal. The contacts and information found on the laptop and cell phone are being investigated to check for links to accomplices, he added.
Iqbal said the agency’s cyber crime wing had a robust monitoring mechanism regarding sharing of child pornography in the country. Besides, international law enforcement agencies regularly issue alerts if any child pornography was being shared by users in Pakistan with users across the world. “The suspect was sharing videos on Facebook groups and Whatsapp groups connected with child pornography,” he said.
Previously, another suspect had been arrested from Shakargarh in Narowal district following a tip from Brazil through the Interpol. He said the agency in that case were waiting for the forensic report as per initial findings no evidence had been found that the suspect was involved in production of child pornography for sale on the dark web.