BATKHELA/CHARSADDA/NOWSHERA: The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested a man suspected of being involved in child pornography in Batkhela area of Malakand.

Also in the day, the Charsadda police claimed to have taken into custody two men on the charge of stripping and filming a girl.

A senior official of the Malakand district administration told Dawn that a five-member FIA team visited the District Headquarters Hospital, Batkhela, as part of investigation into a child pornography and blackmail complaint.

The official said the administration provided support to the FIA, which arrested three suspects and shifted them to Peshawar.

A Malakand Levies official claimed that the suspects had made social media accounts impersonating women before tricking schoolchildren to offer their nude pictures and using them for blackmail.

Charsadda police hold two in girl stripping case

He said several Facebook accounts used by the suspects had been identified.

He said the investigation was launched after a Peshawar-based doctor reported the matter.

The official said the suspects targeted eighth, ninth and 10th graders.

An official of the FIA Cybercrime Wing confirmed the arrest of three people on the charge of child pornography.

He however said two of them were released after initial investigation.

“The suspect, Ilyas, a resident of Batkhela, has formally been charged with child pornography in the FIR and will be produced in the court of law on Friday,” he said.

The official said the suspects used to trick minors to share their nude pictures with them before blackmailing them.

He said the social media accounts of the suspects had been deactivated.

Also in the day, the Charsadda police said they had arrested both people on the charge of stripping a girl, trying to rape her and filming her.

SP (investigation) Nazir Khan told a news conference here that the incident took place in Mian Killay locality in Parang area on Thursday when suspects Azam and Wasif forcibly entered a house, stripped a girl and filmed her on cellphone before trying to rape her.

He added that the suspects fled after an earthquake jolted the area.

The girl’s mother, who was not home when the incident took place, approached the police for the registration of FIR against the suspects who face criminal charges under sections 506, 354, 452, 376, 511 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The official said both the suspects were in the police’s custody and that their cellphones had been sent to the Forensic Science Lab for examination.

The girl’s father said his relatives were forcing him to patch up the matter with suspects but he won’t do so and wanted them to be dealt with strictly.

Meanwhile, the police in Jehnagira area of Nowshera district arrested a man on the charge of assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

The suspect, Tajdar Adil, is the resident of Pirsabaq area in Akora Khattak.

The local police said the boy had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Nowshera, for medical examination.

They said the boy worked as a labourer in Jehangira Bazaar and the suspect had allegedly promised him employment in a Peshawar ice-cream shop before assaulting him.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2018