The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a 35-year-old man based out of Srinagar for allegedly operating a child sex abuse racket along with his US-based wife.
Identified as Niyaz Ahmed Mir, the accused was running a sex racket to target minors living in the United States, the agency said. The accused has been booked under section 67 B of IT Act and Sec. 14 of Pocso Act, 2012. Mir was produced before a special court in Srinagar on Tuesday, which remanded him to CBI custody.
Mir’s wife, another accused in the case and identified as Tamara Stanley(34), hails from Grays Harbor County in southwest Washington. She was arrested by the US authorities on June 25 this year and charged with “production of child pornography”, a press statement from the US Justice Department revealed.
Couple uploaded child pornographic content on dark web for financial gains
According to the CBI, the duo targeted minors in the United States and “uploaded pornographic content on dark net for financial gains” and were also “involved in direct communication with several minors in the USA”.
The agency also carried out a raid at Mir’s residence on Tuesday and recovered “damning digital evidence” including 3 laptops, 5 mobile phones, hand-written notes, etc.
Accused and his US-based wife in “master-slave relationship”: CBI
The accused, Mir, and his wife, Stanley, were in a “master-slave relationship”, CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said. He further added that Stanley was allegedly working on Mir’s directions, exploiting minor children, recording these abuses and electronically transmitting the same to her husband. It is also been alleged that the victims refused to follow his orders, Mir shared these videos with their family members.
Matter came to light after the US authorities accessed email correspondence between Mir and Stanley
The matter came to light when the US authorities accessed Stanley’s emails and discovered the rampant child sex abuse racket.
The CBI said it routinely coordinates with international law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate sexual abuse of minors, especially over the cyber space and also reaffirms its commitment towards promoting cooperation with US Law Enforcement Agencies in combating child sexual abuse in cyber space.