Dreaded criminals and members of gangs are using encrypted chats to provide them secure interface and evade being tracked
Instant messaging (IM) in all its forms has taken the world by storm and WattsApp is the favourite of millions for making real time calls. But the technology is proving to be a headache for Rajasthan police that makes them disadvantaged while tracing criminals and gangsters.
Dreaded criminals and members of gangs are using encrypted chats to provide them secure interface and evade being tracked.
The premier agencies of the state police, the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Special Operations group (SOG) had first faced this problem while they were in persuit of gangster Anand Pal Singh. But now almost every other criminal and gangster is using the IM.
“The first time we came to realize the power of untraceability provided by IMs was while we were tracing Anand Pal. He used to contact his gang members on BBM. Later he started using other platforms too. However, after Anandpal encounter another fact that has come to light is a new distrust and caution among gangsters - they speak to their own gang members and sources on wattsapp video calls to ensure that he has not been arrested by the police. They want to be sure that the police is not using any arrested gang member to trace other members of the gang,” said a highly placed official in the state police on condition of anonymity.
Whatsapp video calls are the safest bet as they give the the caller an advantage of looking at the surroundings of any person. “They use it as a sure shot means to ascertain that a particular gang member has not been nabbed by cops. Moreover, since these calls are made on the internet, it is a lengthy process to trace them and the time taken can be several days. This delay gives the gangsters the much needed time to change location of hiding,” the official said. He further added that “it is only after we get some gang member who has chatted with a criminal and did not delete the chat history that we can retrieve any information. This is one hurdle that we need to overcome soon.”
RESORTING TO ENCRYPTED CHATS
- Dreaded criminals and members of gangs are using encrypted chats to provide them secure interface and evade being tracked.
- The premier agencies of the state police, ATS and Special Operations group (SOG) had first faced this problem while they were in persuit of gangster Anand Pal Singh.
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