Imphal, Oct 13 Thirteen people, including a juvenile, were held in Manipur for allegedly circulating sexually explicit content on social media and monetising it, police said on Tuesday.
An FIR was registered at Moirang police station in Bishnupur district after information was received that administrators and users of multiple Telegram channels were allegedly circulating, trading and monetising non-consensual sexually explicit videos and photographs of local women, including child sexual abuse material, they said.
Police said they launched an investigation, codenamed ‘Operation Dignity’, and arrested 12 people and detained a juvenile.
The arrests were made in Bishnupur, Imphal West and Kakching districts over the last few days, police said.
Police said they seized a total of 14 mobile phones in the operation.
The operation was launched after a tip-off was received on October 3. A suo motu case was registered under the IT Act, POCSO Act, and BNS.
During the course of investigation, the “network status” of over 150 channels/groups was identified.
An investigation is underway to identify the wider network, trace financial transactions and establish whether there are additional victims, they said.
(PTI News)
