The arrest of Ravindra Soni, the alleged mastermind behind the ₹1,000-crore BlueChip Group scam, illustrates the profound impact of digital footprints on policing methods in India. Captured in Dehradun after a year on the run, Soni was tracked not by traditional means but through a food delivery order. This case highlights how law enforcement is increasingly utilizing everyday digital data—such as OTPs, delivery logs, and e-commerce histories—to locate suspects, demonstrating that routine online activities can leave electronic trails capable of unraveling even the most intricate criminal networks.
In 2021, Ravindra Soni founded the BlueChip Group, claiming to engage in trading forex and commodities like gold, oil, and metals. The firm attracted investors not only from India but also from the UAE, Malaysia, Canada, and Japan. By 2024, investigators revealed that the operation was an elaborate fraud, with the company vanishing along with investors' money. After nearly a year of evasion, Soni was apprehended in Dehradun on November 30, tracked down through a food delivery service.
Investigators are increasingly leveraging digital residue—information gleaned from everyday applications and services—as crucial evidence. In a ₹5,300-crore GST fraud uncovered in May 2024, seemingly minor data points such as OTPs from food delivery apps and FASTag alerts were instrumental in mapping suspect movements and exposing networks of fraudulent firms and forged tax credits.
To evade capture, suspects frequently altered their phones, SIM cards, and hotel identities, often keeping their devices turned off except for receiving OTPs. This behavior itself became a significant clue. FASTag toll data assisted authorities in tracing luxury vehicles along the Delhi–Noida–Lucknow corridor, allowing them to narrow down locations despite the suspects' constant digital shifts.
In October, the Delhi Police dismantled a ₹22 lakh cyber-fraud network after a comprehensive nine-day, 1,800-km operation spanning four states. Data from WhatsApp indicated overseas operations based in Malaysia, while footprints from Flipkart, Swiggy, and Zomato helped identify suspects, despite their frequent location changes.
Most applications' privacy policies allow for data sharing with law enforcement when necessary to investigate or prevent illegal activities, rendering these digital traces both admissible and actionable in court.
This shift in evidentiary standards extends beyond financial crimes. For instance, in the United States, prosecutors investigating the 2025 Palisades Fire in California utilized digital evidence to develop their case, which included the suspect's interactions with ChatGPT regarding fire starters and AI-generated images of burning landscapes. These digital records linked the accused to the devastating fire, which scorched over 23,000 acres and destroyed thousands of homes.
Cybersecurity incidents in India surged from 10.29 lakh in 2022 to 22.68 lakh in 2024, reflecting the growing scale and sophistication of digital crime. The financial repercussions are also escalating, with cyber fraud losses amounting to ₹36.45 lakh reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal by February 2025.
To mitigate the misuse of digital platforms, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated messaging services, including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, to implement SIM-to-device binding. These applications must remain continuously linked to the SIM used during registration and deny access if the device does not contain that SIM.
The Centre is employing powers under the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, to enforce tighter regulations on digital identifiers. The rules introduce the concept of a Telecommunication Identifier User Entity (TIUE), referring to non-telecom entities that utilize telecommunication identifiers, such as mobile numbers, to identify users. This regulation means that apps requiring phone numbers for registration will fall under this legal framework.
Currently, the directive targets messaging platforms; however, experts suggest that the broad definition of TIUE could extend to other services, including food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato, which also rely on mobile numbers for user onboarding.
Q1. How are digital footprints used in policing?
Answer: Digital footprints, such as online purchases and location data, are used by law enforcement to trace suspects and gather evidence in criminal investigations.
Q2. What was the BlueChip scam about?
Answer: The BlueChip scam involved the fraudulent operation of a company founded by Ravindra Soni, which claimed to trade in forex and commodities, ultimately defrauding investors of ₹1,000 crore.
Q3. What is SIM-to-device binding?
Answer: SIM-to-device binding is a regulation requiring messaging services to link a user's device continuously to the SIM card used for registration, enhancing security against misuse.
Q4. What are the Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025?
Answer: These rules aim to regulate digital identifiers, establishing frameworks for accountability and security in how telecommunication identifiers
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