‘Videos, photos for Rs 350 each': UP engineer held for selling porn content to kids

LUCKNOW: A Prayagraj-based engineer has been arrested for allegedly running a pornography racket on social media that fetched him Rs 2.5 crore through the illegal sale of obscene content to school children.

The accused, Vikas Singh, 28, ran multiple subscription-based channels on a social media platform where explicit videos and photographs were sold for Rs 350 each, police said, adding that the channels had a huge subscriber base, most of them students in the 12-17 age group. The channels were operational since 2020. Vikas was detained for questioning on May 17 and arrested on Tuesday.

The case came to light after a Hardoi youth lodged a complaint on the cyber crime portal in April, claiming that an AI-generated obscene video featuring him had been uploaded on a Telegram channel. During the investigation, the cyber cell traced the content to channels allegedly operated by Vikas.

To nail him, Hardoi police posed as customers on Telegram and bought videos from the channel administrator by transferring money into the bank account he provided. Another police team tracked the account and reached Vikas.

"During the transaction, the channel administrator allegedly demanded Rs 350 and shared a private bank account's details along with an IFSC code for payment. The account was found to belong to Vikas Singh, which helped police establish his identity," said Hardoi SP Ashok Meena.

Following this, a police team raided Vikas' residence in Prayagraj on the night of May 17 and took him to Hardoi for questioning. An FIR was subsequently registered at the cyber police station.

Police said Vikas has a BTech from a private college in Prayagraj and lives with his family there. His father is a former Air Force employee.

Hardoi SP said Vikas sourced pornographic content from various social media platforms by taking screenshots and tracing original upload sources using Google Lens. He would download the videos free of cost and then repost them on his Telegram channels for paid subscribers.

"The accused was running multiple Telegram channels, including those named "Ddose007.netoffitial" and "Ddose007.netALL", where explicit videos and photographs were allegedly circulated and sold," said Meena.

Police discovered three bank accounts allegedly linked to him, collectively containing around Rs 2.5 crore.