Kerala police, Interpol join hands to tackle child sex abuse

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Interpol and the state police have decided to enhance cooperation to tackle child sexual exploitation. The decision was taken after an Interpol team visited the state to learn more about the proactive steps taken by the police in this regard.
Interpol officers Guillermo Galarza (director, law enforcement training and technology, international centre for missing and exploited children) and Jon Rouse (senior detective, Queensland police service, Australia) visited Cyberdome and held discussions with ADGP (administration) Manoj Abraham about the working of the unit in dealing with cybercrimes and child pornography.
The state police had recently conducted ‘Operation Phunt’ against online child pornography, in which as many as 28 persons have been arrested till date.
“The international centre for missing and exploited children have been producing millions of reports on missing and exploited children, which have probably never made it to Kerala. Now, we will ensure that these reports reach Kerala,” said Galarza.
Rouse said the idea behind the visit is to enhance the capacity of the state police that have set up a specialized unit for tackling child sex abuse by equipping them with latest tools.
State police chief Loknath Behera said the state police have declared 2019 as the year of cyber security, and it would take the help of Interpol .
Interpol team has promised the state police all possible help in expanding the scope of Operation P-Hunt. The cyber experts in Interpol will train the cyber experts in the state police in equipping them with latest cyber tools.