A Pakistani gang that was involved in child pornography operated by German national, selling videos of children on the dark web has been traced, while two people have been arrested and 10 children have been rescued.
Minister of the State for Interior Talal Chaudhry revealed this while holding a press conference in Islamabad along with the Director General of the National Crimes and Investigation Agency (NCIA).
He said that the gang was sexually exploiting children in Muzaffarabad.
Chaudhry revealed that a small club had been established in Muzaffarabad, posing as a facility to teach sports to children aged between 6 and 10. He said that modern cameras were installed at the site under the guise of recording training sessions.
He said that here children from poor families were first subjected to sexual abuse by paying money and then blackmailing them and their videos were sold on the dark web for thousands of dollars on a daily basis, and this nefarious activity was being operated live by this gang all over the world and a German was doing all the work of selling this whole matter and the live videos.
Chaudhry added that the government is actively pursuing legal channels to apprehend the foreign ringleader of the gang, revealing that around 50 children were victimized by the network. Of those rescued, six have been placed under the care of the Child Protection Bureau.
He expressed deep regret over the discovery that some of the children’s own families were complicit in the exploitation. Legal action, he said, has also been launched against those family members involved — whether biological parents or other relatives.
Chaudhry further stated that the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, an international organization, regularly reports cases of child sexual exploitation, and Pakistan’s National Crimes and Investigation Agency (NCIA) responds promptly to these alerts.
He shared that 178 FIRs have been registered so far in connection with child exploitation and related offenses. As a result, 197 individuals have been arrested and 14 have been convicted.
The minister also revealed that a five-hour-long operation was carried out on May 23, during which two suspects were arrested and 10 children were rescued. Of those, six were placed in the care of the Child Protection Bureau.
During the press briefing, NCIA Director General Waqaruddin Syed revealed that the Special Branch had alerted authorities about a foreign national frequently visiting Deen Panah village in Muzaffarabad, whose behavior had raised serious suspicions.
Acting on the tip-off, the NCIA, in coordination with the Special Branch, launched an overnight operation on May 22 and 23, resulting in the arrest of two individuals and the rescue of several children from the location.
Syed explained that the children were initially engaged in various physical activities under the guise of training at a makeshift school. A German national reportedly visited the site regularly to conduct these sessions. Footage of the children was then recorded and sent to the German suspect, who is believed to have been selling the videos on the dark web.
