New Delhi: Delhi Police is probing the use of Bluetooth-aided messaging apps by many who were part of Monday’s ‘Sansad Chalo’ march and allegedly engaged in violence. Cops will write to these service providers to seek details of the users, according to sources.Reports of the use of such a messaging app have rung alarm bells across the police brass and the intelligence echelons as they have been found to have been used in regime change agitations in several countries. Its use first came to fore during the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations. They were also used in protests in Nepal, Iran, Uganda, Madagascar, Taiwan, Malaysia and some other countries.These apps allow users to connect to other devices within a limited range to form direct communication chains, bypassing central servers. They work without internet or cellular service. Instead of routing messages through cell towers or wi-fi, the app connects nearby devices using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks. Phones pass on messages to one another in a “hop” system, relaying the text to nearby devices in the crowd. Communications through these apps cannot be intercepted, leaving law enforcement clueless about plans, said sources.Further, an analysis of the massive crowd build-up has indicated that a large number of individuals from other states had arrived for the march but no information on such movement was shared from these states’ intelligence wings. Many of the protesters landed up at Jantar Mantar as their coaching centres were shut Monday due to the Fifa World Cup, said a cop.An investigation to probe a “larger conspiracy” behind Monday’s violence has been set in motion and the anti-terror unit of Delhi Police is conducting a technical inquiry into the developments. Initial investigation hinges on identifying “outsiders” or “non-students” who mingled among the crowd and allegedly assaulted cops and vandalised their vehicles.The conspiracy angle involves probing inputs of “violent” groups gathering at particular spots. They were allegedly spotted in groups of two to bypass the prohibitory orders in place. “Many of them were seen carrying stones in their pockets, had pepper sprays on them and even broke portions of a wall to collect bricks and stones,” said a senior cop. A politician from north-east Delhi is also among those being investigated, he added.The counter-intelligence unit of Delhi Police is learnt to have identified several parallels with some earlier instances of violence reported in the city in the past five-six years. Extensive IPDR (internet protocol device records) analysis of several suspects is being conducted to ascertain their role in instigating the violence, as per sources.Cops are also using facial recognition tech to identify some of the suspects spotted on cameras indulging in violence and vandalism. Many of the suspects had their faces covered and cops are establishing an electronic route through CCTV footage analysis to check if they took off their face masks at another location.
