KOCHI: Muhammad Mubarak Hussain went from being the aggrieved party to being accused of an egregious crime — in no time.

He arrived at the Perumbavoor police station to file a complaint about a theft at his residence. As part of the process, officers examined his mobile phone, which revealed shocking results:

The 27-year-old migrant labourer was found to be part of multiple social media chat groups, operating from Pakistan, circulating pornographic content, including involving children. Officers found a large volume of child sexual abuse material on his phone. The Nagaon, Assam, resident was immediately arrested.

“We found that he was a member of three WhatsApp and Telegram groups with the administrators and a majority of members based in Pakistan. All these groups were being used to circulate pornographic content, including child pornography. He is also part of similar groups based in India,” a senior police officer said.

While investigators have not yet uncovered evidence suggesting the accused shared sensitive information with foreign nationals, central and state agencies have been roped in to assess the possibility of cross-border data exchange.