LAHORE: A man arrested for selling child pornography on Internet disclosed to interrogators that he lured some 25 children into the heinous act on the pretext of imparting them computer education.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s cyber crime wing on Tuesday arrested Saadat Amin, 45, from Sargodha and took his computer and laptop in custody.

On Wednesday, the agency obtained his five-day physical remand from an FIA magistrate.

FIA cyber crime head Deputy Director Shahid Hasan says the scam is “first of its kind” unearthed by the agency in the country.

FIA cyber crime wing unearths sleazy scam

“During interrogation Amin revealed that he had been selling child pornographic content online for the last few years. Amin used to lure children on the pretext of imparting computer education. He even paid between Rs3,000 and Rs5,000 to the parents of the victims, saying that their children would learn computer hardware and software (skills) at his one-room rented workshop in Sargodha,” one of the investigators, Assistant Director Asif Iqbal, told Dawn.

The FIA cyber crime wing launched a probe into the matter on being informed by Norwegian Embassy through a letter that the country’s police had arrested a man in connection with the child pornographic content and that Saadat Amin was one of his accomplices in Pakistan. Working on the information provided by the Norwegian Embassy, the FIA managed to track down the suspect.

A graduate of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila Campus, Amin is a resident of Malak Wal, Mandi Bahauddin. Later, he moved to Sargodha where he indulged in the heinous activity.

“I got connected with James (first name) of Norway on Internet who introduced me to the ‘child porn industry’. He offered me a deal asking me to sell him child pornographic content that I accepted. He would pay me between $100 and $400 for different videos involving young boys. I used to sell not only my own recordings but also the video clips hacked from the servers of Russian and Bangladeshi porn websites to buyers in Norway and Sweden,” the interrogator quoted Amin as having revealed.

Mr Iqbal said so far the FIA had recovered some 65,000 child pornography video clips from the suspect’s possession hacked from foreign websites. “The suspect is a good hacker and also had links with some policemen in Sargodha who often engaged him for preparation of criminals’ record,” Iqbal said, adding he would also approach the victims and their parents to collect evidence against the suspect.

“We are also investigating whether there are any accomplices of the suspect involved in this criminal act,” the investigator said.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2017