KARACHI: A court on Saturday remanded over a dozen suspects in the custody of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in the cases pertaining to alleged online sale and production of animated child sexual abuse and pornographic material and deceptive social media activities.
The NCCIA Karachi Zone claimed to have arrested the suspects on Oct 23 during a raid at Rabia City in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, targeting three firms allegedly involved in production, promotion, and online sale of sexually explicit animated cartoons, animated child sexual abuse material, pornographic digital content and other digital designing services to international customers.
The NCCIA officials produced 13 suspects before a judicial magistrate (East) and sought their custody for further investigation and arrest of their alleged accomplices.
They also submitted that mobile phones had been seized from the detained suspects and further time was required for technical examination and forensic analysis of these devices.
The magistrate handed over the suspects to the NCCIA on four-day physical remand with direction to produce them at next hearing along with the progress report.
Earlier, during the operation, 42 individuals, including company owners and employees, were arrested, while 45 mobile phones were seized.
Regarding their method of operation, officials said as per preliminary findings, the companies were operating through organised teams of online agents who approached foreign customers using various social media platforms, particularly Instagram and X.
The agents allegedly created and operated multiple social media accounts using fictitious identities, female names, and impersonated profiles to attract international clients.
Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2026