FIA confirms existence of child pornography groups in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday admitted to the presence of groups involved in child pornography in the country, according to the head of the agency's cybercrime wing.

There are groups involved in child pornography in Pakistan, said Captain (retd) Mohammad Shoaib, head of the FIA's Cybercrime Wing. He said that there is proof relating to such cases.

"There are four cases registered relating to child pornography and the accused involved in all the cases have been apprehended," Shoaib said, while exclusively speaking to Geo News.

Apart from these cases, four inquiries are also underway, the official said, adding, "The complaints about all the cases registered in Pakistan were received from abroad".

Shoaib explained that international gangs involved in the heinous crime have members residing in Pakistan.

"The Pakistani members of these gangs come from middle and upper-middle class," he said. "The members of such groups are educated and acquainted with the English language."

The official further said that investigations are ongoing relating to bank accounts of individuals linked to such groups.

Earlier, a deputy director with the agency confirmed that FIA has been conducting three inquiries relating to child pornography in Punjab.

One of the inquiry pertains to suspect Taimur Maqsood, held from Jhang last week, while the other is from Attock district, said Khalid Anis, deputy director of FIA Cybercrime Wing.

The third inquiry is related to suspect Engineer Saadat who was arrested from Sargodha last year, he had added.

The FIA official had said around 65,000 videos of Pakistani children were recovered from Saadat, with the suspect himself involved in such violent films.