Lieutenant Colonel arrested for child pornography

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI - An Indian Army officer has been arrested for allegedly indulging in child pornography following an Interpol input to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), officials said Friday.

The army is now seeking the custody of Lt. Col. Jagmohan Balbir Singh, who was arrested by the cyber crime cell of the Mumbai Police late Thursday. He was presented in court Friday and will be quizzed by police till May 12.

Singh, who works with the Indian Army’s Supply and Transport Wing in south Mumbai but is on study leave, had allegedly posted and downloaded pornographic photos and videos of children between 3 and 10 years of age, police said.

Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy told reporters that he has been charged under the Information Technology Act Sec 67 (b) dealing with child pornography.

However, police are probing if it was a case of hacking and the porn stuff was circulated by a third party involved.

“The police are also investigating the involvement of a third party in the case. No evidence has been found that can prove a direct dissemination of these pornographic pictures (by the accused officer),” Roy said.

Sources said the arrest came in the wake of a report by German police to the Interpol in September 2009 which traced the transmission of child pornography videos on a server in India.

The CBI received the Interpol input in March this year, which in turn led the Mumbai Police to investigate the case.

The crime branch traced the internet protocol (IP) address to Singh’s computer in Colaba where he was living in a civilian building.

The computer has been seized and IT experts in the cyber cell are analysing the data in its hard disk.

The army, meanwhile, has sought bail for the accused officer so that he can be tried in a military court.

“We have given an application to seek his custody,” an official told IANS in Delhi.