CBI Crackdown On Online Child Sexual Abuse, Exploitation; Raids At Three Places In Odisha

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday carried out raids at three places in Odisha, in a major crackdown on child sex abuse across the country.

The raids are being conducted in 14 states. On Tuesday, raids were carried out in Bhadrak, Jajpur and Dhenkanal in Odisha and FIRs lodged against two persons — Manoranjan Das from Binayakpur in Bhadrak’s Agarpada and Anil Majhi from Masudpur, Jajpur Road.

In Dhenkanal, the CBI team came under attack during raids at one Surendra Nayak’s house at Colony Sahi. Police, who rescued the CBI team, said they had not been informed about the raids.

As per reports, after reaching Nayak’s house, the CBI team came under attack by an angry mob. The team reached Nayak’s house around 7 am. Locals got angry after Nayak’s questioning continued till afternoon, sources said.

The searches are being carried out at 76 places in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. “Investigation is still on and teams are deployed at all the 76 places,” said a senior CBI officer.

CBI officers said the accused were circulating videos, photos and links on child sexual exploitation in various WhatsApp groups and online platforms. Many of these groups have foreign nationals also, sources said.

According to NCRB data, cyber crimes against children registered a 400 per cent jump in 2020 compared to 2019. Last year, 842 cases of cyber crimes against children were registered, while 164 cases were registered in 2019.

Children have become extremely vulnerable to cyber crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic as they spend more time online.