UP and Gujarat Police uncover a dark web racket selling explicit videos of bathing women at Mahakumbh 2025. FIRs registered, arrests made, and digital platforms blocked.
Uttar Pradesh Police and Gujarat Police have swung into action to nab the culprits who sold explicit videos of women and girls bathing and changing clothes at the ongoing Kumbh Mela. Three persons have been arrested by Gujarat Police, while UP Police has registered 13 FIRs.
The culprits, part of an international ring, were offering such explicit videos for sale on the darknet and their connections have been traced to Atlanta, USA and Romania.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry at the Centre has blocked 17 websites and social media platforms, where these explicit videos were being offered for sale. In order to evade the authorities, the accused had opened several channels like Mahakumbh-2025, BABA KA VLOGEE, Mela Mahotsav and Hindu Official.
Some of the culprits had opened accounts name Russia Dwivedi, Desi Russia Videos, Girls Live on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram and were offering to sell videos of girls bathing and changing clothes at Maha Kumbh. The videos were being sold at rates ranging ffrom Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
Meanwhile, UP government has banned use of cameras for making videos and images at the bathing ghats in Maha Kumbh. CRPF and state police personnel have been asked to keep a vigil against those trying to make videos at the bathing ghats. Announcements are being made at the bathing ghats informing devotees that use of camera for making videos of people bathing was not allowed.
At a time when crores of devotees have been attending the Maha Kumbh, some sick-minded people joined the hordes of devotees and have made explicit videos of women bathing. They then sold these videos on the dark web for money.
Alarm bells rang when the search term “open bathing” in India started trending between February 12 and 18. Among the 17 social media accounts identified by UP Police, there were three Facebook accounts, two Instagram pages, one Telegram channel and 12 YouTube channels. In some of the cases, the accused were using spycams. .
Creating explicit videos during the sacred religious gathering of Maha Kumbh is not only a crime, but a sin, which cannot be pardoned. One can hardly imagine, young people resorting to this dubious method of making videos of women and girls bathing, who are of the same age of their mothers and sisters.
These women devotees had come to Maha Kumbh to take a holy dip and the sinners were waiting with their cameras to film them.
Everybody must remain alert at the Maha Kumbh and inform police if they notice people indulging in such activity. Such people need to be thrown into jail in order to strike fear in their hearts. This can be achieved by UP Police only through popular support.
What happened in Gujarat was more serious. Ahmedabad Police was probing the case of a CCTV footage of a labour room inside a hospital in Rajkot. Video from this CCTV footage was being sold on Telegram channel. In course of investigation, explicit videos of bathing women at Maha Kumbh also surfaced. A man named Prajjwal Teli was running this racket from Latur, Maharashtra and he was being helped by Praj Rajendra Patil from Sangli.
Patil was nabbed by Gujarat Police from Sangli. Joint CP Crime Branch of Ahmedabad Police Sharad Singhal disclosed that this gang was getting help from insiders working at shopping malls, hospitals and other public places. It was found that the criminals had hacked CCTV footage with the help of hackers sitting in Romania and Atlanta. The network was quite large. One of the accused revealed the name of Chandra Prakash Phool Chand, based in Prayagraj. Chandra Prakash admitted that he was downloading explicit videos from other YouTube channels and posting on his channel to raise views. All three accused have been taken on 9 days’ remand from a local court.
It was found in course of investigation that explicit cctv footage from marriage halls, spas and hospitals were being posted on Telegram channel. The two accused from Maharashtra had earned nearly Rs 8 lakhs during the last eight months by selling explicit videos. The fourth accused is absconding.
Police have advised people to remain on alert about remote access that they have about CCTV cameras installed at their homes. Since IP-based CCTV cameras are active in hospitals, malls, offices and homes, there is chance of such footage being hacked by unscrupulous persons.
This internet game is dangerous. IP-based CCTV cameras are available cheap, and it is easier to hack them. On YouTube, one can find explicit videos from CCTV that have been procured through hackers.
The hackers sell these explicit private videos through different websites. One must understand that CCTV cameras installed in homes can be hacked even if the cameras are switched off.
Secondly, do not use your phone or laptop password in front of IP-based cameras. Hackers can identify your passwords and rob your money. In this age of Artificial Intelligence and IP-based CCTV, precaution is the key word.
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