RAWALPINDI: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has uncovered a large network allegedly involved in exploiting children.

A key operative of the gang has been arrested and hundreds of absence videos have been recovered from his possession.

A spokesman for NCCIA said a team from Islamabad unearthed the network. More than 600 indecent videos of children were recovered from the possession of the suspect, who was arrested in Rawalpindi by the team.

The suspect used to seduce minors by posing as a girl and then blackmailed them through indecent videos, he said.

A case has been registered against him under Peca on the complaint of a resident of G-11, Islamabad.

According to the FIR, the suspect, a resident of Gulzar-i-Quaid Rawalpindi, through fake Instagram account trapped, deceived and exploited a minor son of the complainant.

He fraudulently recorded multiple obscene and sexually explicit videos and pictures of the victim and thereafter blackmailed and threatened him to viral them on social media and demanded more objectionable material, the FIR stated.

The suspect further attempted to illegally obtain verification codes of the victim’s Instagram and Whatsapp accounts, which he refused to share.

The suspect was in constant contact with his accomplices for sharing, buying and selling Pakistani and international child pornographic videos.

Hundreds of pornographic videos were recovered from the seized mobile device of the suspect, establishing his active involvement in child sexual abuse material.

The inquiry showed that the suspect also trapped another minor child through a fake Instagram account by impersonating himself as a female, thereby, committing spoofing.

The suspect obtained obscene pictures/videos, illicitly acquired the Instagram verification code on Whatsapp and further allured the minor for sexual acts and nude video calls, the FIR said.

The suspect had been involved in trapping numerous minor victims through social media in order to obtain their sexually explicit pictures and videos.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2026