The CBI has booked seven persons for allegedly being part of international WhatsApp groups in which child porn images were being shared.

The case was registered after a Preliminary Enquiry on the basis of an a note verbale (diplomatic communication) received from the German Embassy here to the the International Police Cooperation Cell (IPCC) of the CBI on January 31, 2019.

Germany had informed the CBI about child porn convict Sasche Treppke, who was sentenced to five years in prison in that country for involvement in sexual abuse of children and distributing child pornography.

The PE revealed that he was part of 29 WhatsApp groups where child porn was being shared. These groups have seven Indian mobile numbers and all the seven persons having these numbers have been booked by the CBI, officials said.In early 2018, the agency had launched a worldwide probe into a child pornography case with help from Interpol.

The agency had approached 40 countries in probing details of mobile phone owners who were part of a WhatsApp group, in which certain inappropriate images and videos were being shared.

As many as 234 members were there in the "child pornography group" comprising 66 Indian numbers, 56 Pakistani, 29 from the US and the remaining from 37 other countries.

The agency had sent a reference to these countries through Interpol and some of them have been sharing information related to the users.

Following this mega probe, the CBI had on February 22 last year busted a child pornography racket operating internationally on a WhatsApp group.

The agency has arrested the lynchpin and the administrator of the WhatsApp group Nikhil Verma, 20, in connection with the case. The agency had subsequently arrested Verma from Kannuaj in Uttar Pradesh.

Child pornography is a non-bailable offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).