UP child abuse case: CBI hints main accuse was not working alone

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing a child abuse racket allegedly run by an irrigation department junior engineer in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, has found that the porn videos he sold on the dark web were of high quality, indicating the involvement of a professional.

Officials aware of the development said on condition of anonymity that the CBI, which arrested Ram Bhavan Singh from Chitrakoot on November 16, is now searching for the location where the videos were made.

The agency has in its possession about 100 videos found on pen drives and a laptop it received from an anonymous whistle-blower. It also recovered spy cameras and video making equipment during the searches it carried out as part of its investigation.

An examination of these videos has revealed that they were made by a professional, a sign that Bhavan was possibly not working alone, the officials said.

“Seeing the videos, one can easily make out that the locations were arranged and shots were taken professionally, as the way the camera pans and closes in on the subjects is apparently beyond the ability of this man (Bhavan), who is not that tech-savvy,” said one of the officials cited above.

To build a strong case against the suspect, the agency is focusing on tracing the maximum number of children Bhavan trapped and abused. The CBI has managed to trace 35 of Bhavan’s victims -- 15 of them from Banda district alone. His victims were only boys, aged between six and 15 years, the officials said.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Banda will decide on the CBI’s plea for custodial remand of Bhavan on Tuesday.

The court had deferred an order on November 20 after Bhavan’s counsel Anurag Singh Chandel alleged that the CBI arrested him on false charges. CBI’s standing counsel Ashok Kumar Singh would file a rejoinder in the court on Tuesday.

The five-day custodial remand the CBI has sought from court is to identify Bhavan’s remaining victims and find the locations where the videos were made.