A Mangaluru man allegedly involved in the sexual abuse of a minor girl in the United States was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of a major crackdown on international child sexual abuse cyber-network.
The arrest of the accused, Sheikh Muizz Ahmed, is part of Operation Hawk, which is a coordinated initiative by the CBI in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement agencies to dismantle global networks engaged in child sexual abuse.
According to the CBI, Ahmed operated on the social media platform Discord under the handle “heisenberg7343.”
In March 2024, he allegedly engaged in sexually explicit chats with the minor and coerced her into sending obscene images and videos. Investigators also claim that he used threats to force the victim to continue the exploitative exchanges.
Subsequent raids in Mangaluru and Mumbai led to Ahmed’s arrest, who was later remanded to judicial custody. Cases have been registered against him under multiple legal provisions by the CBI’s International Operations Division, including Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 11 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. They also seized the accused’s mobile phone and a laptop.
Operation Hawk is the latest in a series of similar missions, following Operation CARBON in 2021 and Operation Megh Chakra in 2022, which also targeted individuals involved in cross-border child sexual abuse.
Another Indian resident based in Delhi, Mukul Saini, was also charged in a similar case by the CBI. Saini allegedly used multiple Discord accounts – “Izumi#9412,” “Izumi#7070,” “Deadddd#6873,” and “Arisu” – to exploit another minor girl in the U.S. between 2023 and 2024. Investigators say he lured the victim into sharing explicit content and then blackmailed her with threats of public exposure.
Searches at Saini’s residence in Delhi resulted in the seizure of mobile devices and hard drives containing incriminating digital evidence. He has also been booked under Section 506 of the IPC, Section 67 of the IT Act, and Sections 11, 12, and 15 of the POCSO Act.
Emphasising on its commitment to combat online child exploitation through global cooperation, the CBI said it will make more arrests as investigations remain ongoing.
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