Mumbai, August 4: The police have arrested five youths in Mumbai's Bhayander area, for being allegedly associated with a Whatsapp group which promoted child pornography, according to the police. The police, reportedly, acted on a tip it received about child pornography being distributed through a WhatsApp group in Mumbai.

According to a report in The Times of India, seven overseas members were also part of the group. Among the five arrested, three are college students, and all the five youth were part of an international Whatsapp group involved in the uploading and circulation of child pornography. The five youth were arrested by the Navghar police in Bhayander on Friday.

According to the report, no minor has been found to be part of the Whatsapp group. Those arrested belong to the age-group of 18 to 25 and were picked from their homes. They were arrested after their addresses were traced with the help of their mobile numbers found in the group. The name of the Whatsapp group circulating child porn, which the youth were part of is titled "BB Bad Boys", informed Bhayander's assistant superintendent of police, Atul Kulkarni to the paper.

According to the police, the group administrator is absconding and is believed to belong to Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin. Majority of the members are from Maharashtra, but the group also includes members from other states namely, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana. The case came to light after a 26-year-old, also a member of the group, approached cybersecurity consultant, said the police.

In a similar case from the past, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 13 this year, revealed that the child pornography racket that was being run by a WhatsApp group 'KidsXXX' had 119 members from 40 countries. The CBI probe had brought to light the fact that the maximum members were from India, followed by Pakistan and then the USA.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 04, 2018 10:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).