15 held across Telangana for circulating child sexual abuse material-OxBig News Network

A total of 15 habitual offenders involved in digital circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSEAM) were arrested by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB).

The accused

The accused were identified as 24-year-old Mir Zakir Mohiuddin Ali Khan from Charminar; 30-year-old Prasad Kumar from Secunderabad; 23-year-old Syed Faheem Uddin, also from Charminar; 23-year-old Guramm Mahesh from Atmakur in Yadadri district; and 25-year-old Mohd Baseer Ahmed Quraishi from Mallepally. Others include 29-year-old Shaik Ameer, 25-year-old Silmula Marteen and 31-year-old Palancha Sandeep, all from Nizamabad; 50-year-old Battula Anjaneyulu, 29-year-old A. Siba Dora, and 28-year-old Md Jalal Uddin, all from Karimnagar; 30-year-old Imran Mohammed, from Hanumakonda; 19-year-old Siddhartha, from Korutla, Jagtial; 20-year-old Errola Shiva, from Saroornagar and 19-year-old Abed Alam Khan from Qutbullapur.

The arrests were made during a coordinated State-wide operation conducted on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) by the bureau’s specialised Child Protection Unit (CPU), which has been monitoring habitual offenders engaged in the uploading, storage and distribution of exploitative content involving minors.

The arrested individuals were picked up from multiple districts including Hyderabad, Yadadri, Karimnagar, Warangal, Jagtial and Jagadgirigutta. All 15 were found to be repeat offenders, linked to at least 57 cyber tipline complaints.

The operation resulted in 34 First Information Reports being registered under the IT Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, including 17 cases taken up by TGCSB’s Cyber Crime Police Stations (CCPS).

The CSEAM content recovered in the operation primarily involved foreign victims, with children aged between 6 and 14 years. Nearly 90% of the content pertained to girls. Most of the accused belong to working- and middle-class backgrounds, officials said.

Social media patrolling and dark web crawling

TGCSB Director Shikha Goel said the bureau had also blocked nearly 200 websites linked to CSEAM material as part of the operation. She explained that multiple methods are being used to track down such activity. “One is the tipline analysis. The bureau is also involved in in-house social media patrolling and dark web crawling to identify the accused involved in sharing such content,” Ms. Goel said.

The investigation, she added, is still ongoing to identify the victims, trace the origin of the content and determine whether the accused were involved in its creation. “We are suspecting that the accused could have downloaded the content from either open platforms or purchased it on dark web. However, we are also investigating to identify the source of the content to see if they were involved in its creation,” she noted.

Action against social media companies

The official also hinted that action will be taken against social media companies. “Social media platforms are expected to carry out due diligence and block the users who are sharing such content. In this case, action will be taken against the social media platforms where the content was traced.” She further stressed the need for stricter norms to be enforced by platform operators to ensure timely action against those circulating such material.

The officer also warned that even browsing such material is a punishable offence and will attract action by the police.