Real Arrests in India for Running Porn Websites and Sharing Illegal Content: Cases That Prove the Law Is Enforced

Quick answer: Yes, people in India are regularly arrested for running porn apps, selling obscene videos, sharing child sexual abuse material and spreading revenge porn and deepfakes. Recent examples include a 2019 B.Tech graduate arrested in Hardoi (UP) in 2026 for selling obscene videos to around 7,000 subscribers on Telegram and Instagram, the 2021 Hotshots app case in Mumbai, CBI raids at 76 and 59 locations in 2021 and 2022, a 22-year-old B.Tech graduate arrested in Delhi in September 2026 for AI deepfakes, and 25 OTT apps blocked in July 2025. Convictions have ranged from 5 years in jail for revenge porn to life imprisonment for a recorded rape.

Last updated: October 2026

There is an old Hindi saying: laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante. Some people will not believe a law exists until they see someone go to jail for breaking it.

In the earlier articles of this series, we explained the laws and the punishments. This article is the proof. Every case below is real, reported by mainstream Indian media, and linked in the sources at the end.

Pay attention to who gets caught. Again and again, it is engineers, tech workers, app owners and people who were confident their technical skills would protect them.

This article is part of our series Running an Adult Website in India as a Developer: Laws, Punishments, Real Arrests and Why You Will Get Caught.

A note on fairness: An arrest is not a conviction. Where a case is still under investigation or trial, we say so, and we do not name private individuals who have only been arrested. Every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. But as you will see, an arrest alone can mean weeks in custody, seized devices, frozen bank accounts and your name in the news.

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At a Glance: Cases Covered in This Article

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Case 1: B.Tech Graduate Arrested for Selling Obscene Videos on Telegram (Hardoi, 2026)

This is the case every developer and engineering student should read twice.

In early 2026, Hardoi Police in Uttar Pradesh acted on a tip-off that objectionable content was being circulated among minors in the district through encrypted messaging platforms. Their cyber team traced the operation to a 2019 B.Tech graduate from Hardoi district.

According to police and media reports:

• He ran around 21 groups and channels on Telegram and Instagram with about 7,000 users
• Police said a majority of those users were minors, including school students
• He sold paid subscriptions: around ₹350 per month, ₹450 per quarter and ₹600 for six months
• Police recovered roughly 10,000 videos and 40,000 obscene photos, including videos that violated people's private spaces
• The operation had allegedly been running since 2020
• Police found around ₹1.2 crore in his bank accounts, with later media reports putting the total earnings even higher

What this case teaches developers

• Telegram did not protect him. Encrypted apps do not hide the person collecting the money.
• The money gave him away. Subscription payments created a clear trail into his bank accounts.
• Six years of "success" ended in one tip-off. Running without getting caught for a long time does not mean you will never be caught. It only means more evidence piles up.
• Selling to minors makes everything worse. Showing or selling obscene material to children brings in POCSO and child protection laws on top of the IT Act.

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Case 2: The Hotshots App Case (Mumbai, 2021)

On 19 July 2021, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested businessman Raj Kundra and 11 others in a case involving the production of pornographic films and their distribution through a paid mobile app called Hotshots.

According to the police:

• Aspiring actresses were allegedly lured with promises of web series roles and then pressured into shooting explicit scenes at locations around Mumbai
• The films were distributed through Hotshots, a subscription app
• The app had been sold to a London-based company, which police alleged was controlled by a relative
• The case was registered under IT Act 67 and 67A, IPC obscenity and cheating sections, and the Indecent Representation of Women Act

He spent around two months in custody before getting bail in September 2021. He has denied the allegations, and the case is still pending. In November 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided around 15 locations in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh in a money laundering probe linked to the production and distribution of adult content through apps.

What this case teaches developers

• A foreign company did not stop Indian police. Moving the app to a UK-registered entity did not prevent arrests in Mumbai, because the people running it were in India. Read more in Can You Hide a Porn Website on Vercel, Render or Offshore Servers?
• Money and fame did not stop the arrest. If a well-known, wealthy businessman can spend two months in custody, a student developer has no chance.
• The money trail leads to the ED. Earnings from such apps can bring a separate money laundering investigation, years after the original case.

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Case 3: CBI's Nationwide Crackdowns on Child Sexual Abuse Material (2021 and 2022)

Operation Carbon: November 2021

Around Children's Day in November 2021, the CBI registered 23 cases against 83 accused and searched 76 locations across 14 states. The CBI said it had identified more than 50 groups with over 5,000 offenders sharing child sexual abuse material through social media groups and third-party hosting platforms, with members from around 100 countries.

Operation Megh Chakra: September 2022

On 24 September 2022, the CBI searched 59 locations across 21 states and 1 Union Territory, including Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, targeting people sharing such material through cloud storage. The leads came from New Zealand Police through Interpol's Singapore unit. Phones and laptops of more than 50 suspects were seized.

Operation P-Hunt: Kerala, February 2023

Kerala Police raided homes across the state in one day after identifying around 858 locations, registering 142 cases, arresting 12 people and seizing 270 devices. Police said those arrested included tech workers and young professionals.

What this case teaches developers

• Cloud storage is not a hiding place. Megh Chakra was named after it.
• Police in other countries report Indians to Indian police. Your "private group" may already be infiltrated.
• One raid can cover the whole country in a single morning.

Read the full legal breakdown in Building Any Platform That Hosts Child Pornography (CSAM) in India.

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Case 4: Hacked Hospital CCTV Videos Sold on Telegram (Rajkot, 2025)

In February 2025, Gujarat Police found that videos of women patients being examined in the labour room of a maternity home in Rajkot were being sold online. Hackers had broken into the hospital's CCTV system. The clips were sold through subscription Telegram groups at around ₹2,000 per video and promoted through YouTube channels.

Police arrested seven people, including the hackers, the person who converted the footage into sellable QR codes, and a YouTube channel operator. Police said the gang had compromised around 50,000 CCTV cameras across hospitals, schools, offices and homes. The charges include voyeurism, criminal conspiracy and cyber terrorism under IT Act Section 66F, which carries up to life imprisonment.

The YouTube promoter and the Telegram seller were arrested along with the hackers. Being "just the distribution guy" did not help.

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Case 5: AI Deepfake Cases (Delhi, 2024 and 2026)

B.Tech graduate arrested for AI nudes: September 2026

On 9 September 2026, the Cyber Police Station, North District, Delhi arrested a 22-year-old B.Tech graduate for allegedly creating obscene AI-generated images of a woman from his college, using photos from her private Instagram account. Police said he spread them through multiple fake Instagram, Discord and Facebook accounts and several Gmail IDs. He was traced through his digital footprint, email IDs and other technical evidence.

The Rashmika Mandanna deepfake: January 2024

After a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna went viral in late 2023, Delhi Police arrested its creator on 20 January 2024 after scanning more than 500 social media accounts. Police said he made it to gain followers.

Read more in Rape Videos, "Forced" Porn, Revenge Porn and Deepfake Nudify Apps: Why Developers Who Build or Host Them Go to Jail in India.

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Case 6: Convictions That Ended in Jail

Arrests show the police are watching. Convictions show the courts are serious.

India's first IT Act 67 conviction: 2004

In November 2004, a magistrate in Chennai convicted the accused in State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti for posting obscene messages about a woman online, under IT Act 67 along with IPC sections. This was India's first conviction under Section 67, more than twenty years ago.

Revenge porn: 5 years in jail, 2018

In March 2018, a court in Tamluk, East Midnapore (West Bengal) sentenced a 23-year-old man to 5 years in jail for uploading his ex-girlfriend's private videos to porn websites, along with her name and her father's details. He was convicted under IT Act 66E, 66C, 67 and 67A and IPC sections on sexual harassment and voyeurism.

Recorded rape: life imprisonment, 2025

On 2 August 2025, a Special Court in Bengaluru sentenced former MP Prajwal Revanna to life imprisonment and a fine of ₹11.5 lakh for raping a domestic worker in 2021. The court found that he had recorded the assaults on his phone. Explicit videos had circulated on pen drives in Hassan in 2024. He was convicted under IPC rape and sexual harassment sections and IT Act 66E. He has appealed the conviction in the Karnataka High Court.

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Case 7: Websites and Apps Blocked Across India

When the government blocks a platform, the people behind it lose everything they built, and the blocking order becomes part of the official record against them.

2018: 827 porn websites blocked after a High Court order

On 27 September 2018, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered the blocking of 857 pornographic websites. After MeitY found that 30 of them had no pornographic content, the Department of Telecommunications directed all internet service providers on 24 October 2018 to block 827 websites.

2022: 67 more porn websites blocked

In September 2022, the DoT ordered ISPs to block 67 pornographic websites, based on orders from a Pune court and the Uttarakhand High Court, citing the IT Rules, 2021.

2025: 25 OTT apps blocked, including Ullu and ALTT

On 23 July 2025, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocked 25 OTT platforms, covering 26 websites and 14 mobile apps, including Ullu, ALTT, Big Shots App, NeonX VIP and Desiflix. The ministry cited IT Act 67 and 67A, the obscenity provisions of the penal code, and the Indecent Representation of Women Act. It noted that some platforms had received warnings in September 2024 and had even come back under new domains after earlier blocks.

Lesson for developers: "We'll just switch domains" does not work. It is noted, and it is used against you.

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The Pattern: What Every Case Has in Common

Look at all the cases together and a clear pattern appears:

1. Tech skills do not protect you. B.Tech graduates, tech workers and app owners appear again and again.
2. The money always leaves a trail. Subscription payments, ad revenue and app income end up in bank accounts that police can see.
3. "Private" platforms are not private. Telegram groups, Discord servers, cloud drives and fake accounts were all traced.
4. Foreign structures do not help. UK companies, offshore hosting and foreign tips all ended with arrests in India.
5. Time is not on your side. The Hardoi operation ran for about six years before it was caught. The longer you run, the more evidence you create.
6. Distributors are arrested too. YouTube promoters, Telegram sellers and app operators were arrested alongside the people who created the content.

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What an Arrest Actually Means, Even Before Any Verdict

Many people think "I'll fight it in court" is a plan. Here is what actually happens once police reach your door:

• Your phones, laptops and hard drives are seized for forensic analysis, sometimes for years.
• IT Act 67A, 67B and POCSO offences are non-bailable. Bail is not your right. Custody can last weeks or months.
• Bank accounts can be frozen, and money laundering investigations can follow.
• Your name can appear in the news even before trial.
• Trials take years. Court dates, lawyer fees and travel continue for a long time.
• Background checks and job offers suffer. A pending criminal case in cybercrime is a serious problem in any tech job.

Even if someone is eventually acquitted, the arrest itself can cost them years of their life.

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Key Takeaways

• People are actively arrested in India for running porn apps, selling obscene videos, sharing CSAM and spreading deepfakes and revenge porn.
• Engineers and tech workers are among those arrested, including a B.Tech graduate in Hardoi in 2026 and another in Delhi in September 2026.
• The CBI has run nationwide raids at 76 and 59 locations in single operations.
• Courts have handed down 5 years for revenge porn and life imprisonment for a recorded rape.
• The government has blocked 827 porn sites (2018), 67 more (2022) and 25 OTT apps (2025).
• Telegram, fake accounts, cloud storage, foreign companies and new domains did not save anyone.

If you are a developer thinking an adult website or a Telegram channel is easy money, this list is your answer.

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Read the full series

• Running an Adult Website in India as a Developer: Laws, Punishments, Real Arrests and Why You Will Get Caught
• Porn Laws in India Every Developer Must Know: IT Act 67, 67A, 67B, POCSO and BNS Punishments Explained Section by Section
• Building Any Platform That Hosts Child Pornography (CSAM) in India: Laws, Jail Terms and Why Developers and Owners Are Held Liable
• Rape Videos, "Forced" Porn, Revenge Porn and Deepfake Nudify Apps: Why Developers Who Build or Host Them Go to Jail in India
• Can You Hide a Porn Website on Vercel, Render or Offshore Servers? How Indian Police Trace Website Owners
• Using a Foreign Gmail, US Phone Number or VPN to Run a Porn Website From India? Why You Will Still Be Caught
• Can You Earn Money From Ads on an Adult Website in India? The Legal and Financial Truth for Developers

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Disclaimer: This article is for general awareness and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is based on public media reports and court records available at the time of writing. Cases described as arrests are at the investigation or trial stage unless a conviction is stated, and every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Details reported by different outlets sometimes vary; refer to the linked sources.

Sources

• UP police dismantle online pornography network in Hardoi, arrest 2019 B.Tech graduate — The News Mill
• Engineer sells videos for Rs 350 on Telegram, arrested — NewsX
• All you need to know about the Raj Kundra pornography case — iPleaders
• ED raids residence in money laundering probe — Gulf News
• CBI files 23 cases against 83 accused for sharing child sexual abuse material online — The News Minute
• Massive CBI crackdown: 59 locations raided across country — The Tribune
• Kerala: 12 arrested in child porn crackdown — Deccan Herald
• Seventh arrest in Gujarat hospital CCTV videos case — Deccan Herald
• Delhi: 22-year-old arrested for circulating obscene AI deepfake images — ANI
• Culprit behind Rashmika Mandanna deepfake arrested — Deccan Herald
• Suhas Katti v. Tamil Nadu — Wikipedia
• Man gets 5 years in jail for sharing nude video of ex — DailyO
• Former MP Prajwal Revanna gets life sentence — The Tribune
• Telecom dept asks internet providers to block 827 porn websites — Business Standard
• Government orders blocking of 67 porn websites — The Tribune
• India blocks 25 OTT platforms for publishing obscene content — Gulf News