An NIA online-radicalisation probe and a Rajya Sabha reply on narcotics cases show Indian authorities tracking Telegram, WhatsApp, VPNs and virtual digital assets across extremist recruitment, financing and drug trafficking networks.
Indian authorities say both terror and drug trafficking networks are increasingly using encrypted apps, social media, VPNs and cryptocurrency to recruit, coordinate operations and move funds while obscuring digital and financial trails. Senior security officials cited by ETV Bharat and an NIA probe referenced by The Crypto Times described a “three-app” pattern in terror cases: initial contact on open platforms such as Instagram, migration to Telegram for indoctrination and planning, and use of crypto channels for fundraising, with suspects also relying on anonymous accounts, burner profiles and overseas servers. In a written Rajya Sabha reply on Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said Narcotics Control Bureau investigations found drug syndicates in Punjab and nearby states using WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Zangi, social media platforms, VPNs and cryptocurrency or other virtual digital assets to arrange purchases, transport, concealed shipments, deliveries and payments. Authorities said some jailed traffickers also continued directing operations from prison via mobile phones. The disclosures add to warnings in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ February 2026 PRAHAAR strategy that terror outfits are using crypto wallets that bypass standard AML and KYC checks. Recent cases include a March 2026 Uttar Pradesh ATS arrest of a 19-year-old dental student from Moradabad accused of running an ISIS-linked digital module and dealing in cryptocurrency with contacts in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey; a May Gujarat Cyber Centre of Excellence case involving a Rs 226 crore crypto-terror financing network using USDT and Monero; and a Jaipur probe into possible crypto funding in a Jaish-e-Mohammed sleeper cell case. TRM Labs separately traced hundreds of ISKP-linked transactions worth $100 to $15,000, mostly via Tether on Tron. Officials say the response includes expanded NIA cyber counter-terror work, NCB digital forensics and financial investigations, cyber training with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Rashtriya Raksha University, and a dedicated darknet and cryptocurrency task force under the Multi Agency Centre for intelligence sharing.