Criminals are doing away with technology; Here is why

Bengaluru, March 19: Save as draft. This is possibly the best way to share e-mails between two persons while avoiding the watchful eyes of police and intelligence bureau officials.

Over the past couple of years we have been seeing several criminals increasingly reducing the use of technology. Be it the corporate espionage scam, the Riazzuddin Nazir module or the Indian Mujahideen head, Yasin Bhatkal. All have relied very less on technology.

The investigations into the Corporate Espionage case has led to investigators recovering a host of documents and information that was saved in the drafts of accused persons. This meant that none of the messages passed through the wires and there was no way that any agency could have tracked them.

Sharing a common email id:

Investigators have found that almost all the accused in the case used the save to draft option to share information. There was one email id, which was created and the passwords shared between them.

When any of them picked up some information from a ministry they would write out an email and then save it as a draft. The person who would access the information would regularly check the drafts and then pick up the information before passing it on, investigations have also revealed.

Beating technology:

The modern day criminal relies very little on technology while passing on information. They are fully aware that information that passes through mobile phones or the wires are easily accessible to the intelligence agencies who can track and nab them.

The first known instance of the save to draft option in India was when a module headed by Riazzudin Nazir was busted. Nazir was arrested in Karnataka after it was found that he was planning a series of attacks in Goa.

During the investigation, the officers found a series of emails saved as a draft. During the course of the investigation he revealed that this was a ploy they had adopted so that none could track their emails which had plans about their operations.

Bhatkal was caught after he made a call to his wife at the Indo-Nepal border.

The Indian Mujahideen did not believe in phones:

The version one of the Indian Mujahideen was a tech savvy force. They had even sent out emails with the subject line, "catch me if you can," prior to blasts.

However, the excessive use of technology turned out to be a bane for them and each one of them was tracked down and arrested by the police.

Version 2 of the Indian Mujahideen was headed by Yasin Bhatkal. He was a firm believer that the lesser the use of technology the longer the organization survives. His gang included four members who would only communicate in person.

Never use the laptop or the mobile phone, he had instructed. This infact helped him a great deal and they managed to carry out six major blasts in the country without being tracked and this had lef the agencies completely clueless.

Technology got the better of Yasin finally:

Yasin Bhatkal had become impossible to track for the Intelligence Bureau officials. There was no communication by him either on mail or the phone and most of the time his whereabouts were never known.

Yasin, prior to his arrest, was planning on slipping into Pakistan via Nepal. At that point in time when he felt that he had the agencies on the mat, he decided to use the phone.

He was on the Nepal border and before he was set to cross over he decided to call his wife and tell her that he has kept some money aside for her. This was his doom and the agencies after tracking his location picked him up in no time.

OneIndia News