New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday booked five administrators of a WhatsApp group on the charge of uploading and circulating child pornography, taking up a case intelligence sources said was rare for the premier investigative agency.

"They always complain of having been overburdened with probing graft cases. At present they are busy investigating bank fraud cases involving (diamantaire) Nirav Modi and (Rotomac promoter) Vikram Kothari but despite that they took up this case," an Intelligence Bureau official said.

The CBI had registered the case on a tip-off from the IB.

The 119-strong WhatsApp group - KidsXXX - included members from India, the US, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Nigeria, Mexico and New Zealand, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

"It was alleged that members of a WhatsApp group had uploaded/shared child abuse videos and images. Searches were conducted at five places, including Delhi, Noida and Kannauj (both in Uttar Pradesh) and Mumbai (Maharashtra), which led to the recovery of mobile phones, tablets and laptops containing the alleged incriminating materials depicting children in obscene, indecent and sexually explicit acts," Dayal said.#

The CBI apprehended one of the accused, Nikhil Verma, a 20-year-old unemployed commerce graduate, from his hometown Kannauj, after registering a case under Section 67-B of the Information Technology Act. Uploading, sharing and even seeing such materials is a crime under the act.

The other administrators are Satyendra Chauhan (Mumbai), Nafis Reza and Zahid (both Delhi) and Adarsh (Noida).