OPERATION MEGH CHAKRA
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- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under operation code-named “Megh Chakra” searched across 20 States and one Union Territory, to curb the circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
- Operation “Megh Chakra” was conducted following the inputs received from Interpol.
- During the raids, CBI seized the electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops, belonging to the suspects.
Related News
- Recently India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has joined Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) initiative that will allow it to collaborate with investigators in other countries for detecting child sexual abuse online and identifying abusers, victims, and crime scenes from audio-visual clips using specialised software.
- India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software.
- Interpol
- Interpol is the world’s largest international police organisation with 195 member countries and is headquartered in Lyon, France.
- Each member country hosts an Interpol National Central Bureau that connects their national law enforcement to it and in India, the CBI is that nodal agency.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was set up in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Later, it was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.
- The Special Police Establishment set up in 1941 was also merged with the CBI.
- The establishment of the CBI was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962–1964).
- The CBI is not a statutory body. It derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
- The CBI is the main investigating agency of the Central Government. It plays an important role in the prevention of corruption and maintaining integrity in administration.
- It also assists the Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.
- The CBI investigates crimes of corruption, economic offences and serious and organized crime other than terrorism.
- For Terrorism: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been constituted after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 mainly for the investigation of incidents of terrorist attacks, funding of terrorism and other terror-related crime.
- CBI is headed by a Director. He is assisted by a special director or an additional director.
- The Central Government appoints the Director of CBI on the recommendation of a three-member committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him.
Steps taken by the Indian Government to curb online child sex abuse
- India reported over 24 lakh instances of online child sexual abuse from 2017 to 2020, with 80% of victims being girls below the age of 14 years, according to Interpol data.
- More than 60% of unidentified victims were prepubescent, including infants and toddlers.
- Around 65% of unidentified victims were girls, but severe abuse images were more likely to have boys
- In 2019, the CBI set up a special unit called the ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE)’, for tracking and monitoring posting, circulation and downloads of CSEM online.
- Based on intelligence developed by the unit, the CBI started a country-wide operation against the alleged peddlers of online CSEM in India last year
- Back in 2020, the cyber wing of the Maharashtra Police had acquired software from Interpol to track child sex abuse captured on video and in photos.
- In 2019, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, a US-based non-profit organisation, started sharing tip-offs about child sex abuse with Indian agencies. Received by the National Crime Records Bureau, this information was passed on to the states where the incidents took place, to boost the detection of those sharing such content.
Other measures to prevent cyber crimes against children
- The Government has ordered all the intermediaries to adopt a strong grievance redressal mechanism including time-bound disposal of grievances against Child abuse.
- Social media Intermediary need to take measures to identify child sexual abuse material.
- The Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) program of the Union Government has been creating awareness and highlighting the importance of following ethics while using the Internet.
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 was amended in 2019 to provide more severe punishment.
- The Union Ministry of Home Affairs is implementing Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) under Nirbhaya Fund.
- The Government has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with a special focus on cyber crimes against women and children.
- A toll-free number has been operationalised to assist in lodging online cyber complaints.
- The Government has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with the cyber-crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
- The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the State Governments through advisories and financial assistance.
- The Central Government also takes measures such as issuance of alerts/ advisories, capacity building/ training of law enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/ judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities and spreading awareness about cybercrimes.
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