I was porn yesterday!

Lt Colonel arrested for child pornography in May tells cops he doesn’t understand technology. Had no idea that clips he was downloading frenetically were also getting uploaded in cyberspace

Deeptiman Tiwary

     

Posted On Friday, August 20, 2010 at 02:28:20 AM

Crime branch and Mumbai police cyber cell have completed their investigation in the case of the army colonel sensationally arrested from his house for uploading clips of child pornography on the internet. Investigators have put together a portrait of a man who was a bright career officer of integrity-his bank accounts scrutinised just last week, are impeccable, but his image of a caring husband and father tarred by a furtive obsession with child pornography. All the 250 clips confiscated from the home of Lt Col Jagmohan Balbir Singh, 42, feature 60 Caucasian girls aged between three and ten years. Singh told the police that he got addicted to pornography while on a posting to Assam in 2007 where, with little avenue for a social life, he and his fellow officers spent time watching porn. “He subsequently became curious about obscene films featuring children,” disclosed an officer close to the investigation who did not wish to speak on record. However, it emerged during investigation that for all his obsessive surfing, Lt Col Singh had very little idea about the surprises that technology could spring and which eventually landed him in trouble. Investigation has established that Singh did not commit the offence for money, nor was he part of some international pornography racket. He also did not upload the offensive clips intentionally, perhaps. “He has also not shot any of the videos that he uploaded, nor has he indulged in paedophilia. The downloading software he used, simultaneously uploads the clip which is being downloaded. He claims he was unaware of this,” said a Crime Branch officer. According to cyber experts, software like u-Torrent have an in-built system wherein the clip being downloaded gets simultaneously uploaded through the default setting to maintain the high quality of videos on the internet. “The entire system works on the principles of demand and supply. On the internet it is known as leechers and seeders. A video that has more seeders than leechers will have a better quality as there are more number of people uploading it than the number of people downloading it,” said an expert who has also helped Crime Branch in several cyber crime cases. Singh, who has moved to an undisclosed location since his arrest on May 6, was also unaware that according to information technology law under which child pornography comes (section 67 B) even downloading is an offence. “Ignorance is no excuse, we have enough forensic evidence to get him,” said additional CP (Crime) Deven Bharti. The punishment for offences under 67B of the IT Act can attract a jail term up to five years and or a fine of up to Rs ten lakh. Singh’s activities on the internet first came under the scanner of German agencies. In July 2009, German police spotted frenetic uploading of child pornography clips from Mumbai on a server located in the United States. They sent a report to the Interpol, which in turn forwarded it to the CBI in Delhi, and subsequently to the Mumbai Crime Branch in February 2010. The Cyber Cell under Senior PI Mukund Pawar then tracked the server activity to Singh’s Internet Protocol address. Since Singh’s house was in a protected area, officers entered his house acting as internet service provider agents, checked his computer to be doubly sure and then arrested him. Lt Col Singh, a commerce graduate, joined the Indian Military Academy in 1989, and was awarded the nine-year service medal in 1998. Singh was just a few months away from receiving the 21-year service medal when he was arrested. He has also done stints in militancy-affected areas of J&K and Assam. Since his arrest, Singh has also been facing a trial in the military court, said Defence PRO Manohar Nambiar.