Police hunt nude Telegram channel subscribers
34,680 people have paid for these channels.
Efforts are being made to find and take action against subscribers of nine confiscated Telegram channels for sharing nude photos and videos, police said Thursday.
Nine such channels were seized on Telegram and three people were arrested on September 9. Police previously said:
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34,680 people have paid for these channels
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The channels have earned around MVR 2 million in subscription fees
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There are 43 channels, including the nine channels and others, for posting child pornography
Head of Cyber Crime Centre, Superintendent of Police Mohamed Salim told a press conference at Iskandharu Police Station on Thursday that they are trying to track down the people who have subscribed the channels.
Head of Investigation Inspector of Police Azeef Abbas said there is a legal framework to take action against such persons.
"We will not hesitate to take necessary action against such persons. In this case also we are trying to take action against those who have subscribed also shared with others in this connection, those who tried to obtain the photos as per legal norms," Azeef said.
Azeef said the complaint was filed by a victim. The investigation revealed that it was a channel called 'Dhi Leaks', he said. The channel:
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535 people subscribed
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350 photos and 2400 videos of nudity were posted
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There were scenes of children
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It also reveals the names of the children
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Three people have been arrested in the case
The three suspects are:
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Zubair Ali, 45
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Nasif Ali, 46
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Ismail Rabih, 29
Police said the suspects were ordered to remain in custody after being produced before the court for a decision on their remand.
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Zubair Ali - arrested on August 10; He has been produced before the court three times and his remand has been extended on August 30 for an additional 30 days
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Naseef Ali - arrested on August 10; He has been produced before the court three times and his remand has been extended on September 5 for 15 days
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Ismail Rabih - arrested on August 20; He has been produced twice and he was last produced in court on September 5 and remanded in custody for 15 days
Zabih's phone was searched and it was revealed that the complainant had been threatened and many other scams had also been conducted, Azif said.
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Zabih's phone, the complainant said photos and videos were found
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Police has seen threatening messages
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Money transactions have been found
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Naseef's phone was also found with nude photos and videos
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The issue of financial statements related to the issue has been found
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Nasif ran the channels and tried to launder the money in collaboration with others
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Zubair's phone contained photos and videos of children
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Other people's nude scenes were also on Zubair's phone
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Zubair has provided the information to others; It is learned that he was seeking children's pornography for his own interests
Fourteen electronic devices were seized in connection with the case. Related to the case:
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Nine Telegram accounts were seized and a total of 571 Telegram channels were seized
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27 Google accounts, 26 Facebook accounts, 3 WhatsApp accounts and 3 Viber accounts have been seized
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In addition, 30 other cloud storage accounts have been seized
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34,680 subscribers on Telegram channels
