Mumbai: More arrests likely in the soft porn racket

The arrested accused at a press conference held at Mumbai Police headquarters in Crawford Market on Saturday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Cyber Cell of the Mumbai crime branch has arrested three YouTubers for uploading soft porn, on the pretext of sharing prank video content. Two of the accused were arrested from Malad, and one from Thane. They have been identified as Mukesh Gupta, Jitendra Gupta and Prince Kumar.

Sources in the crime branch have told mid-day that there is gang of YouTubers that has been uploading explicit videos on their channels, and they have been operating for nearly five years now. "More arrests are likely, as it is a big racket," said a senior officer in the Mumbai crime branch.

The Cyber Cell swung into action after a complaint was submitted before them on February 23, mentioning the names of nine YouTube channels - Love Jitu, The Japes, Mukesh Pranks, The Japes Vlogs, The Japes Uncut, Prank with Japes, AR Pranks, Natkhat Prince and Avnish Prank - that are uploading explicit content.

Sources in the Cyber Cell said that those who have been arrested include the managers of Love Jitu, The Japes and Natkhat Prince.

According to sources, the YouTubers had filmed the obscene videos at beaches, forts, public parks, and gardens in Mumbai. "In the videos, the YouTubers would be seeing interacting with women in public places, harassing them by touching them inappropriately, using obscene language and gestures, or commenting on their body parts," said the complainant, who did not wish to be identified.

Another officer said that the investigation is still at the nascent stage. "The bank accounts of all these YouTubers will be thoroughly scanned to ascertain how much money they have earned from the videos," the officer said.